• Holarrhena antidysenterica
• Aegle marmelos unripe fruit
• Andrographis paniculata
• Zingiber officinalis

RESEARCH:

Holarrhena antidysenterica:
H.antidysenterica is a deciduous shrub or small tree. The bark is rather rough, pale brownish or greyish; the leaves are opposite, subsessile, elliptic or ovate-oblong, membranous; the flowers are white, in terminal corymbose cymes; the follicles, divaricate, cylindric and usually white spotted; the seeds are light brown. The principal alkaloid of kurchi is conessine. The other alkaloids reported to be present in the bark are: conamine, conkurchine, connessimine, kurchine, conarrhinine, holarrhinene and isoconcessimine Various fractions of H.antidysenterica showed promising activity against experimental amoebiasis in rats and hamsters. The fruit extract (50% ethanolic) showed antiprotozoal effect against Ent. histolytica strain STA, Trypanosoma evansi; anticancer effect against human epidrmoid carcinoma of the nasopharynx in tissue culture and hypoglycemic activity in rats. Holarrhena antidysenterica extracts were found to show potentially interesting activity against test bacteria. These active crude proprietory extracts were also assayed for cellular toxicity to fresh sheep erythrocytes and found to have no cellular toxicity

Aegle marmelos:
A study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of aqueous and methanolic plant extracts Aegle marmelos unripe fruit for its antidiarrhoeal potential against castor-oil induced diarrhoea in mice. The methanolic plant extract was more effective than aqueous plant extracts against castor-oil induced diarrhoea. The methanolic plant extract significantly reduced induction time of diarrhoea and total weight of the faeces. The result obtained establish the efficacy of these plant extracts as antidiarrhoeal agents. Oral administration of bergenin and norbergenin, two isocoumarins, isolated from the leaves and roots of Flueggea microcarpa and luvangetin, a pyranocoumarin isolated from the seeds of Aegle marmelos Correa, showed significant protection against pylorus-ligated and aspirin-induced gastric ulcers in rats and cold restraint stress-induced gastric ulcers in rats and guinea pigs. The study on prostaglandins release by human colonic mucosal incubates, indicated a concentration-dependent (1-10 micrograms/ml) stimulatory effect of bergenin and norbergenin, while luvangetin (1-10 micrograms/ml) did not produce any effect. The results suggest that gastroprotective effects of bergenin and norbergenin could be due to increased prostaglandin production while, some other mucosal defensive factors may be involved for luvangetin. 

Andrographis paniculata: 
Thanagkul B, Chaichantipayut C. conducted a double-blind study of Andrographis paniculata Nees and tetracycline in acute diarrhea and bacillary dysentery. The Investigators showed that the herb demonstrated significant anti-diarrheal activity. Experiments on animals demonstrate that AP can prevent or stop diarrhea. Diarrhea-type diseases are one of the top ten causes of death worldwide and are a leading cause of death in children in developing countries, especially those that are under five years of age. The use of antibiotics is producing antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. While there are many drugs used to relieve the symptoms of diarrhea (kaolin-pectin, bismuth, Lomotil, loperamide hydrochloride, and others), many have undesirable side effects. An inexpensive and easily obtained herbal remedy would benefit many, especially people in developing countries where diarrheal disease is almost catastrophic. Extracts of AP have been shown to have significant effects against the diarrhea associated with E. coli bacterial infections. The AP components, andrographolide and neoandrographolide, showed similar activity to loperamide (Imodium), the most common antidiarrheal drug. 

Acute bacterial diarrhea in patients was treated with a total dose of 500 mg andrographolide divided over three dosing periods per day for six days (2.5 to 3.0 mg/kg of body weight). This regimen was combined with rehydration. There were 66 cures of 80 patients treated -- an 82.5% cure rate. Seven additional patients responded favorably to the treatment and only seven patients (8.8%) did not respond. The effectiveness of the treatment was confirmed by laboratory tests of stool samples. In another study, AP was used to treat 1,611 cases of bacterial dysentery and 955 cases of diarrhea with overall effectiveness of 91.3%. 

It had been believed that AP was effective against bacterial dysentry and diarrhea because it was antibacterial, but studies could not confirm this effect. However, the andrographolides were very effective in stopping the diarrhea. How this is accomplished is not completely understood at present. 
Chronic inflammation of the colon was treated with a combination of AP (60 g) and Rehmannia glutinosa (30 g), decocted. Rehmannia is a Chinese herb used to treat anemia, fatigue, and to promote the healing of injured bones. It is also a demulcent. The liquid part of the mixture was used as an enema at doses of 100 to 150 ml each night for fourteen days. Of a total of 85 patients, 61 (72%) were considered clinically cured and 22 (26%) had symptomatic relief.

Zingiber officinalis: 
The antibacterial activity of ethanolic extracts of ginger were investigated on selected pathogens using the Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) and Minimum Bactericidal Concentration (MBC) assays. RESULTS: The extracts exhibited antibacterial activity against the pathogens. The MIC of extracts ranged from 0.0003 microg/ml to 0.7 microg/ml for ginger while MBC ranged from 0.1.35 microg/ml to 2.04 microg/ml for ginger CONCLUSION: Results indicated that extracts of ginger root may contain compounds with therapeutic activity.

In a separate study researchers compared the inhibitory characteristics various plant extracts including Ginger with those of the commonly used antifungals, amphotericin B and ketoconazole, and the plant-derived antifungal, berberine. Several plant extracts, notably those from Zingiber officinale (ginger) had pronounced antifungal activity against a wide variety of fungi, including strains that were highly resistant to amphotericin B and ketoconazole. Further exploration of Z. officinale as an antifungal is warranted as this species is generally regarded as safe for human consumption.

DOSAGE: 

1 to 2 Capsules 3 to 4 times a day with Meals.

CONTRAINDICATIONS

:None reported.

PREGNANCY: 

Use under medical supervision.

• Amoebiasis
• Giardiasis
• Dysentery
• Microbial infections
• Bacterial infections
• Food poisoning

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