Radiology Medical News about Extracts from Indigowood Root; Radiation-Induced Mucositis

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Effect of extracts from indigowood root (Isatis indigotica fort.) on immune responses in radiation-induced mucositis
Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 06/22/09

You WC et al. – Study demonstrates that indigowood root (IR) has anti-inflammatory ability to reduce the mucosal damage caused by radiation; indirubin may play a pharmaceutical role in improvement of radiation mucositis, anorexia, and difficulty in swallowing.

Methods

An evaluation of the effect of indigowood root on acute mucositis induced by radiation in pts with head and neck cancer receiving radiotherapy
Objective severity of mucositis, anorexia, and swallowing difficulty were measured before and after the treatment
20 pts were randomized into 2 groups:
- Group 1: served as controls with only normal saline, and
- Group 2: as the indigowood root (IR) group
Prophylactic application of IR consisted of gargling and then swallowing the IR preparation on the irradiated oral mucosa
Pts' characteristic distribution of gender, age, diagnosis, and mean radiation dose between the 2 arms were calculated
Mean of grade 1-4 mucositis, anorexia, difficulty in swallowing, and body weight change were compared

Results

Application of IR reduced the severity of radiation mucositis, anorexia, and swallowing difficulty
Although pts' resting days did not show a significant difference complete radiotherapy was done w/o rest for 4/11 pts in the IR group vs 2/9 in controls
Hemoglobin level between both groups showed no significant difference
Serum IL-6 was significantly lower in the IR group during the first, fifth, and seventh wks