title: The suppressive activities of six sources of medicinal ferns known as gusuibu on heat-labile enterotoxin-induced diarrhea.
abstract: Diarrheal disease is one of the most important worldwide health problems. Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) is the most frequently isolated enteropathogen in diarrheal diseases. In developing countries, a very large number of people, especially children, suffer from diarrhea. To combat this problem, World Health Organization has constituted the Diarrhea Diseases Control Program which guides studies on traditional medicinal practices and preventive measures. Gusuibu, a traditional folk medicine, has been claimed to heal certain types of diarrhea. However, so far no scientific study has been carried out on the anti-diarrheal mechanism of Gusiubu. The present study was performed to examine the suppressive activities of ethanol extracts of six sources of folk medicinal ferns used as Gusuibu on heat-labile enterotoxin (LT)-induced diarrhea. Inhibitory effects of six sources were evaluated on the ETEC LT subunit B (LTB) and monosialotetrahexosylganglioside (GMI) interaction by GM1-enzyme linked immunosorbent assay and patent mouse gut assay. Our results indicated that Drynaria fortunei had no anti-diarrheal effect, while, among the remaining five folk medicinal ferns, four belonging to family Davalliaceae had significant abilities on both the blocking of LTB and GM1 interaction and the inhibition of LT-induced diarrhea. In conclusion, these findings suggested the potential application of Gusuibu as an anti-diarrheal remedy.
authors.affiliation: Department of Golden-Ager Industry Management, Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung 41349, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hung-Chi
authors.initials: HC
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicinal Botany and Health Applications, Da-Yeh University, Changhua 51591, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jaw-Chyun
authors.initials: JC
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science and Technology, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Jiun-Long
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Biochemical Sciences and Technology, Chaoyang University of Technology, Taichung 41349, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Hsin-Sheng
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Tsay
authors.affiliation: Department of Microbiology, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chien-Yun
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Hsiang
authors.affiliation: Graduate Institute of Chinese Medicine, China Medical University, Taichung 40402, Taiwan. tyh@mail.cmu.edu.tw.
authors.forename: Tin-Yun
authors.initials: TY
authors.lastname: Ho
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003967:Diarrhea / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000382:microbiology; D054307:Enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli / Q000187:drug effects*; D004768:Enterotoxins / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000378:metabolism; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D029624:Ferns / Q000737:chemistry; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000737:chemistry; D029621:Polypodiaceae / Q000737:chemistry*; D064028:Tracheophyta / Q000737:chemistry
chemical_list: D004768:Enterotoxins; D010936:Plant Extracts