Sula, Parinamasula and Amlapitta are clinical entities recognized by ayurveda, akin to peptic ulcer and functional dyspepsia. Many indigenous drugs have been advocated in ayurveda for treatment of dyspepsia. Our laboratory has been engaged in screening of various indigenous herbal and metallic drugs for their potential use in peptic ulcer diseases, taking lead from Ayurveda and have reported anti-ulcer and ulcer-healing properties of Tectona grandis (lapachol), Rhamnus procumbens (kaempferol), Rhamnus triquerta (emodin), Withania somnifera (acylsteryl glycoside), Shilajit (fulvic acid and carboxymethoxybiphenyl), Datura fastuosa (withafastuosin E), Fluggea microcarpa and Aegle marmelos(pyrano- and iso- coumarins) etc., along with their mechanism of action. The present article includes the detailed exploration of ulcer protective and healing effects of unripe plantain banana, tambrabhasma and Asparagus racemosus on various models of experimental gastroduodenal ulceration and patients with peptic ulcer. Their effects on mucin secretion, mucosal cell shedding, cell proliferation, anti-oxidant activity, glycoproteins, and PG synthesis have been reported. Clinical trials of these drugs for evaluating their potential ulcer healing effects in peptic ulcer patients have been done. Their potential ulcer protective effects both, experimental and clinical seemed to be due to their predominant effects on various mucosal defensive factors rather than on the offensive acid-pepsin secretion. Thus, the above herbal I herbo-mineral drugs do have potential usefulness for treatment of peptic ulcer diseases.

Anti-ulcer drugs from indigenous sources with emphasis on Musa sapientum, tamrabhasma, Asparagus racemosus and Zingiber officinale

Shilajit is a pale-brown to blackish-brown exudation, of variable consistency, exuding from layers of rocks in many mountain ranges of the world, especially the Himalayas and Hindukush ranges of the Indian subcontinent. It has been found to consist of a complex mixture of organic humic substances and plant and microbial metabolites occurring in the rock rhizospheres of its natural habitat. Shilajit has been used as a rejuvenator and an adaptogen for thousands of years, in one form or another, as part of traditional systems of medicine in a number of countries. Many therapeutic properties have been ascribed to it, a number of which have been verified by modern scientific evaluation. Shilajit has been attributed with many miraculous healing properties.

Shilajit: a review

In this review, we focus on the medicinal drugs from humus matter such as peat, sapropel, and mumie. The most clinically available medicines, containing peat and sapropel extracts, are Torfot, Tolpa Peat Preparation (TPP), Peloidodistillate, Humisol, Peloidin, FiBS, and Eplir. Much attention in the review is concentrated on mumie composition, its pharmacological properties, and new pharmacological drugs with mumie (Shilagen, Abana, Cystone, Diabecon 400, EveCare, Geriforte, Lukol, Pilex, Rumalava, Tentex forte, Nefrotec, Adrenotone, Siotone, La-Tone Gold, Andro-Surge, Solanova Libidoplex). It was concluded that therapeutic properties of crude extracts from peat, sapropel, and mumie have similarity to the ones of fulvic and humic acids. They are antibacterial, antitoxic, antiradical, antiulcerogenic, antiarthritic, immunomodulatory, and antiinflammatory properties. Possible directions for better development of new drugs from humus matter are discussed. Drug Dev. Res. 57:140–159, 2002. © 2002 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Medical drugs from humus matter: Focus on mumie

Stroke is one of the most important causes of mortality and morbidity in the world. Prevention and effective treatment of stroke is of the utmost importance. Cerebral ischemia causes disturbances in a variety of cellular and molecular mechanisms, including oxidative phosphorylation, membrane function, neurotransmitter release, and free radical generation. It has been years since tissue-type plasminogen activator (t-PA) became the first medication approved by the FDA for the management of stroke, with limited success. Thrombolytic therapy is the most effective therapeutic strategy for the prevention of brain injury and reduction of mortality in patients with cerebral infarction. However, a combination of established thrombolytic therapy and effective neuronal protection therapy may have more beneficial effects for patients with cerebral infarction. Because clinical trials of pharmacological neuroprotective strategies in stroke have been disappointing, attention has turned towards approaches which include herbal drugs that can be used in limiting the neurological damage associated with stroke. Herbal drugs may be used as prophylactic treatment in patients with high risk of stroke. Herbals drugs have been described in ancient systems of medicine for the treatment of various ailments associated with stroke and have more recently been reported to be beneficial in treating stroke. However, the strength of evidence to support the use of these herbal drugs is unclear. This review focuses on putative mechanisms underlying the beneficial effects of herbal drugs in patients with stroke and on the possibility of herbal drugs to increase the therapeutic time window in patients with cerebral ischemia.

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Therapeutic potential of herbal drugs in cerebral ischemia

Effects, in albino rats, of a processed shilajit (Sh-P), native shilajit (Sh-N) (unprocessed water-soluble fraction), and a preparation consisting of a mixture of ethyl acetate extractives (EE) and fulvic acids (FAs) from Sh-P, were evaluated in (i) an active avoidance, (ii) elevated plus-maze and (iii) open-field behaviour paradigms. This study was undertaken to appraise the validity of use of shilajit as an Ayurvedic medha rasayan (enhancer of learning and memory). Sh-P and its active constituents (EE-FAs) significantly augmented learning acquisition and memory retrieval in the battery of tests, designed for this purpose, according to accepted tenets. Sh-N, on the other hand, produced erratic responses (both augmentative and retardative) in the above parameters. The U-shaped dose-responses shown by Sh-P and EE-FAs are reminiscent of agents that improve cognitive functions. Additionally, Sh-P and EE-FAs, in high doses (25–50 mg/kg p.o.), produced significant antianxiety effect in the open-field behaviour test. The present and earlier findings seem to suggest that the action of shilajit is mediated by facilitating communication between the immune and the central nervous systems. These findings reinforce our earlier postulate that purification of shilajit is an imperative necessity to ensure its optimum therapeutic effect. This would also safeguard from potential health risks associated with prolonged ingestion of raw shilajit containing free radicals and fungal toxins.

S.B. Acharya

Papers

Antiulcerogenic and antiinflammatory studies with shilajit.