News From The American Chemical Society

Main Category: GastroIntestinal / Gastroenterology
Also Included In: Biology / Biochemistry;  Cancer / Oncology;  Neurology / Neuroscience
Article Date: 13 Nov 2007 - 7:00 PDT

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"Dragon's blood" quenches stomach ulcer bacteria

"Dragon's blood" may sound like an exotic ingredient in a witch's brew or magic potion. But researchers in China are reporting that the material -- which is actually a bright red plant sap used for thousands of years in traditional Chinese medicine -- contains chemicals that were effective in laboratory experiments in fighting bacteria that cause millions of cases of gastrointestinal disease each year. Their study is scheduled for the current issue of ACS' Journal of Natural Products, a monthly publication.

In the new study, Weimin Zhao and colleagues indicate that "dragon's blood" has been used for years in China and other countries as a folk remedy for stomach ulcers, blood clots, and other conditions. Researchers, however, have never identified the active ingredients in dragon's blood responsible for its beneficial health effects on peptic ulcer and preventing blood clots.

The researchers isolated 22 different compounds from the powdered stems of Dracaena cochinchinensis, a common source of dragon's blood. The scientists tested the compounds' effects on Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), the bacteria known to cause most cases of stomach ulcers and gastritis. Two of the compounds blocked the growth of H. pylori. In another part of the experiment, eight other compounds from dragon's blood inhibited blood clotting, suggesting their potential use in the prevention of the blood clot responsible for some strokes and most heart attacks, the scientists say.

Article: "Anti-Helicobacter pylori and thrombin Inhibitory Components from Chinese Dragon's Blood, Dracaena cochinchinensis"

Contact:
Weimin Zhao, Ph.D.
Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica
Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Shanghai, China 201203

Toward cancer drugs that penetrate 10 times deeper into the brain

A new drug-delivery system for cancer of the brain -- one of the most difficult cancers to treat -- has the potential to carry anticancer drugs 10 times deeper into tumors than conventional medications, researchers in Connecticut and New York report. Their study is scheduled for the Nov./Dec. issue of ACS' Bioconjugate Chemistry, a bi-monthly journal.

Implants with anticancer drugs inside plastic or polymer material have been used for years to treat brain tumors, which occur in people of all ages but are the leading cause of cancer-related death in patients under age 35. Although this method delivers high doses of medication to the tumor, there's a need for a drug that penetrates deeper into the brain tissue to kill tumors. Most drugs diffuse barely a few millimeters from the implant site, the researchers say.

In the new study, Mark Saltzman and colleagues showed that linking the anticancer drug campothecin (CPT) to the polymer polyethylene glycol (PEG), increased drug diffusion to more than a centimeter from the implant site. They also identified a promising CPT-PET compound that could deliver 11 times more medication to the tumor than the plain drug alone. For patients, those advantages could substantially improve chances for successful treatment, the researchers indicate.

Article: "Conjugation to Increase Treatment Volume during Local Therapy: A Case Study with PEGylated Camptothecin"

Contact:
W. Mark Saltzman, Ph.D.
Department of Biomedical Engineering
Yale University
New Haven, Conn. 06520

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Article adapted by Medical News Today from original press release.
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The American Chemical Society -- the world's largest scientific society -- is a nonprofit organization chartered by the U.S. Congress and a global leader in providing access to chemistry-related research through its multiple databases, peer-reviewed journals and scientific conferences. Its main offices are in Washington, D.C., and Columbus, Ohio.

Source: Michael Woods
American Chemical Society