BACKGROUND Leakage of the intestinal mucosal barrier may cause translocation of bacteria, then leading to multiorgan failure. This study hypothesized that rhubarb monomers might protect the gut mucosal barrier in sepsis through junction proteins. METHODS Healthy male Sprague-Dawley rats (weighing 230-250 g) under anesthesia and sedation were subjected to cecal ligation and perforation (CLP). ...

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer is a major cause of morbidity, mortality, and medical expenditures among women in Canada. Essiac (Resperin Canada Limited, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada), a blend of at least four herbs (burdock root [Arctium lappa], Indian rhubarb [Rheum palmatum], sheep sorrel [Rumex acetosella], and the inner bark of slippery elm [Ulmus fulva or U. rubra]), has become one of the more po...

none are ever cured, and that the majority of them may be relieved by copious irrigation of the stomach with concoctions of rhubarb and gentian. Invaluable as this remedy proves in a great number of cases, it cannot be regarded as a panacea for every variety of digestive disturbance, and of late years its preeminence has been challenged by the surgeon. The operative treatment of chronic gastric...