Camellia oil, widely used for cooking, could possibly have medicinal qualities that could alleviate the effects of stomach ulcers brought on by alcohol use, a medical research team at National Chung Hsing University said on Tuesday.
The latest mice studies headed by professor of food science and biotechnology Yen Kuo-chin (顏國欽) showed mice pretreated with camellia oil suffered less from alcohol-induced acute gastric mucosal injury, the press release said.
Long used in Taiwan for cooking, folk wisdom asserts that camellia oil has properties that alleviate stomach ailments, a claim the study sought to research, Yen’s team said in a June 21 paper published in the Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.
Alcohol causes stomach disorders because it elevates the stomach tissue’s oxidative stress, suppresses the expression of heat shock proteins and interferes with Prostaglandin E2 production, the paper said.
Those effects reduce the regeneration and repair of gastric mucosa, making the stomach more vulnerable to inflammation and apoptosis and resulting in a higher rate of injury and ulcer risk, it said.
Camellia oil had a positive effect on the stomach’s ability to combat negative effects from ethanol in mouse cells, as well as in live mice, it said.
The in vitro study with mouse cells indicated that the oil helped enhance defenses, cell viability and wound healing while reducing apoptosis, it said.
Lab mice consuming the oil showed enhanced defenses, while inflammation, oxidative stress and apoptosis were down when compared to a control group, it said.
The mechanism causing the positive effects was that camellia oil enhances antioxidant enzyme activities, heat shock protein and Prostaglandin E2 production, while it suppresses lipid peroxidation, apoptosis-related proteins, and pro-inflammatory cytokines, the paper said.
Although results in lab mice are not necessarily replicable in people, the study’s results were encouraging and pointed toward potential health benefits, the university said.
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