Abstract

REVIEW ARTICLE IMPACT OF HERBAL ANTIOXIDANTS IN GASTRIC ULCER PATIENTS

*Sattanathan K., Arya R. S., Parvathy R. Panicker and Merin Sebastian

ABSTRACT

Natural products are the best source for the discovery of new drugs, which were in use even from the Vedic period. Development of standardized, safe and effective herbal formulation with proven scientific evidence can also provide an economical alternative in several diseases. Natural antioxidants are side effect free, used in preventive diseases and act as radical scavengers, inhibit lipid peroxiation and other free radical-mediated processes and therefore they protect the human body from several diseases attributed to the generation of radicals. There is evidence concerning the participation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) in the ethiology and pathophysiology of human diseases, such as neurodegenerative disorders, inflammation, viral infections, autoimmune pathologies and digestive system disorders, more so, in gastrointestinal inflammation and gastric ulcer. The ROS generated by the metabolism of arachidonic acid, platelets, macrophages and, smooth muscle cells may contribute to gastric mucosal damage. Therefore, by scavenging free radicals and the ROS, these herbs might be useful in protecting the gastric mucosa from oxidative damage and possibly may accelerate healing of gastric ulcers. Various phenolic antioxidants such as flavonoids, tannins, coumarins, xanthenes, procyanidinis have been reported to scavenge ROS in a dose dependent manner and, therefore are viewed as promising therapeutic agents for ameliorating free radicals-induced pathologies.

Keywords: Natural Antioxidants, Gastric Ulcer, Free Radicals, Herbs, Phytochemicals.