ABSTRACT
A double-blind clinical trial was carried out on thirty-eight patients with symptomatic and endoscopically proven duodenal ulcer to compare the therapeutic responses to mastic (1 g daily, twenty patients) and placebo (lactose, 1 g daily, eighteen patients) given orally over a period of 2 weeks. Symptomatic relief was obtained in sixteen (80%) patients on mastic and in nine (50%) patients on placebo, while endoscopically proven healing occurred in fourteen (70%) patients on mastic and four (22%) patients on placebo. The differences between treatments were highly significant (P less than 0.01). Mastic was well tolerated and did not produce side effects. It is concluded that mastic has an ulcer healing effect, but further studies are needed to establish its role in treating peptic ulcer.
Subject(s)
Duodenal Ulcer/drug therapy , Plant Extracts/therapeutic use , Plants, Medicinal , Resins, Plant/therapeutic use , Adult , Clinical Trials as Topic , Double-Blind Method , Female , Humans , Male , Mastic Resin , Middle Aged , Random AllocationABSTRACT
Total and specific alcohol dehydrogenase activity has been compared in homogenates of 19 different types of human tissues from different sources. ADH activities were detected in tissues which have not been tested yet, e.g., thyroid gland, adrenal gland, fat tissue, skin tissue, peritoneal membrane, breast tissue, duodenum, and gall bladder. Healthy and pathological human tissue differ in their ADH activity. The percentage of the total activity has been estimated in each tested organ in relation to the total activity of the whole body.
