UlcersZinc

Zinc carnosine stimulates repair of intestinal damage

Indomethacin (Indocin) can cause serious intestinal side effects including inflammation, bleeding, and ulcers. So, if you’re going to test the value of a supplement that claims to protect the intestines, what better than to see if it protects against indomethacin side effects.

Here are the details.

  • 10 healthy volunteers took two treatments
  • Indomethacin 50 mg 3 times daily plus zinc carnosine 37.5 mg twice-daily for 5 days
  • The same dose of indomethacin plus placebo for 5 days
  • Lab studies were done to measure the changes caused during the treatments

And the results

  • Zinc carnosine stabilized intestinal mucosal cells and decreased the damage to the stomach and small intestines caused by indomethacin.

“Importantly, these effects were seen at concentrations likely to be found in participants taking the product as a health food supplement,” concluded the researchers.

Don’t confuse zinc carnosine with zinc sulfate. More on the differences and research being done with the former to treat ulcers can be found here.

3/2/07 13:37 JR

Hi, I’m JR

John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.