Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine
Volume 2018, Article ID 2035820, 12 pages
https://doi.org/10.1155/2018/2035820
Review Article
Propolis and Its Potential to Treat Gastrointestinal Disorders
Luisa Mota da Silva, Priscila de Souza, Soad K. Al Jaouni, Steve Harakeh, Shahram Golbabapour and Sérgio Faloni de Andrade
Correspondence should be addressed to Sérgio Faloni de Andrade; faloni@univali.br
Received 11 August 2017; Accepted 21 November 2017; Published 15 March 2018
Academic Editor: Salvatore Chirumbolo
Copyright © 2018 Luisa Mota da Silva et al. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
There are a number of disorders that affect the gastrointestinal tract. Such disorders have become a global emerging disease with a high incidence and prevalence rates worldwide. Inflammatory and ulcerative processes of the stomach or intestines, such as gastritis, ulcers, colitis, and mucositis, afflict a significant proportion of people throughout the world. The role of herbal-derived medicines has been extensively explored in order to develop new effective and safe strategies to improve the available gastrointestinal therapies that are currently used in the clinical practice. Studies on the efficacy of propolis (a unique resinous aromatic substance produced by honeybees from different types of species of plants) are promising and propolis has been effective in the treatment of several pathological conditions. This review, therefore, summarizes and critiques the contents of some relevant published scientific papers (including those related to clinical trials) in order to demonstrate the therapeutic value of propolis and its active compounds in the treatment and prevention of gastrointestinal diseases.
* THESE STATEMENTS HAVE NOT BEEN EVALUATED BY THE FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION. THIS IS NOT INTENDED TO DIAGNOSE, TREAT CURE OR PREVENT ANY DISEASE.