Abstract
We had previously found that the clinical efficacy of natural medicinal products was
significantly enhanced by pretreatments of the natural compounds with far infrared
radiation heating and brewing that effected degradation of high molecular polymers
to yield free forms of low molecular monomers with anti-oxidant activity. The gastric
samples from the patients were incubated with untreated or treated natural products,
and the resulting materials assayed in vitro for the capacity to scavenge reactive oxygen species (ROS). The gastric fluid of
patients who had responded to the untreated natural products showed a significantly
greater scavenging ability than did the patients who had not responded to these agents.
Similarly, the gastric fluid of patients who responded only to the treated, commercial
products also showed a slightly greater scavenging ability than did those who failed
to respond to any agent, treated or untreated. Acid and pepsin contents were demonstrated
in largest amounts in the gastric juice from the patients who had responded well to
the untreated natural medicines. Furthermore, the materials incubated with gastric
fluid from the responding patients produced an increase in the free forms of alpha-tocopherol,
β-carotene, and flavoprotein as compared with the fluids of nonresponding patients.
These findings suggest that one of the factors determining the clinical response to
natural herbal medicinal products is the ability of the patient's digestive system
to degrade the product to liberate bio active low molecular compounds from repeating
polymers.
Key words
Natural plants - clinical response - far infrared rays - brewing - reactive oxygen
species - scavenging ability - digesting capacity of gastric juice
