Social Business 20: Increasing Absorption, Part 3 of 4

A quick review of our last study was a focus on how Acemannan helps to reduce the electrical resistance that happens in the intestinal lining and where absorption of nutrients and other substances take place naturally. This study showed how aloe vera gel and its Acemannan component contributed to absorption enhancement and how it caused, in the words of the study itself, rapid and relatively large decrease in the natural electrical resistance of the intestinal cells, thereby increasing absorption capacities. We displayed the results of that study and you’re welcome to access that presentation, which is part two of this study.

And now we will continue with the same study called Intestinal Drug Absorption Enhancement by Aloe Vera Gel and Whole Leaf Extract In Vitro Investigations into the Mechanisms of Action. We will first cover two ideas: transport and apparent permeability coefficient. Now don’t worry, I’ll define the terms and I’ll make this study on absorption easily absorbable. But first let’s define what these terms mean.

So transport is how a substance moves from one place to another. And apparent permeability coefficient is how easily a substance can pass through a natural barrier. Why is this important? Mostly this is just more of the large body of evidence that Acemannan is not just a homegrown burn and wound healing medicine obtained from the aloe vera plant on the back porch at grandma’s house. It is said that in ancient history, including its mention in the Bible five times, that Alexander the Great led the conquest of Socotra, an island in the Indian Ocean, so he could control the supply of aloe. In these modern times, there are over 700 peer-reviewed studies revealing that Acemannan, the stabilized active ingredient in aloe, is much more than its long history reveals.

This time, the substance used as the negative control is called FD4. This stands for FITC dextran. FITC is a fluorescent dye, which makes it glow under a special microscope. Scientists use it to track how substances move through cells or barriers, like the intestinal wall. Dextran is complex sugar, a polysaccharide, made of glucose molecules linked together. The number 4 in FD4 represents just how large this molecule is. It is 4 kilodaltons large. Daltons is a measurement for molecular weight and references how big a molecule is. So FD4 is just a short way of saying FITC dextran with a molecular weight of 4 kilodaltons.

Let me be quick to say that in this study, they also tested larger molecular weights, including FD10, FD20, and FD40, with no success whatsoever. Why? Well, remember in part 2, I defined the term macromolecular, macro meaning large, molecular referring to a molecule. The fact is that these molecules are so large that they simply could not permeate or absorb successfully. Acemannan is proving itself efficacious and strikingly significant, but elephants don’t fit into shoeboxes. FD4 is still classified as macromolecular, so we’re still working with a relatively large molecule. It’s just on the smaller end of the molecular spectrum.

So the FD4 served as the control here, where there was an absence of aloe vera gel. The other FD4 solutions, a total of four others, included various concentrations of aloe vera gel:

Each study was measured every 20 minutes for 120 minutes. This graph shows the results. The FD4 control did its thing, but the aloe gel enhanced transport, in the words of the study, was statistically significantly higher in the presence of all the aloe vera gel solutions compared to the transport of the control group, that is, the FD4 alone. Aloe vera gel therefore showed the ability to significantly enhance the transport of a macromolecule, FD4, across intestinal epithelial cells. Intestinal epithelial cells reference the lining in the intestines.

Also, the authors made note that the transport of the FD4 alone showed an initial increase until the first 20-minute mark, whereafter it basically plateaued over the rest of the 120-minute period, while the FD4, in the presence of the various aloe vera gel concentrations, continued toward an upward transport, albeit at a slower rate than the first 20 minutes. And the same was true when they tested with aloe vera whole leaf extract, as you can see on this graph.

And to address the apparent permeability coefficient, which I mentioned earlier, remember, this refers to a way of measuring how easily a substance can pass through a barrier present in the intestinal cells. This was measured with a permeation enhancement ratio, indicated by the capital letter R in the upcoming bar graph. First, there is the ratio generated in consideration of the aloe vera gel study. In this case, the bars marked with an asterisk indicate a statistically significant difference when compared to the control. The control is the blue-colored bar on the left, and no aloe gel was employed here. The light blue is the FD4 with 0.1% aloe vera gel concentration. The yellow bar is the FD4 with 0.5% aloe vera gel concentration. The gray bar is 1% aloe vera gel concentration. And the orange bar is 1.5% aloe vera gel concentration. This indicates at least a two-fold increase among all of the concentrations compared to the FD4 control.

And again, the same is true for the aloe vera whole leaf extract test indicated by this bar graph. And this is the part in the study where the authors repeated something that I have already mentioned previously, that these results are consistent with three previous studies. You saw these earlier, and I list them here again for you to pause for further perusal.

Absorption enhancement is once again addressed in the context of two more scientific dynamics, transport and apparent permeability coefficient. Yes, aloe gel with its active ingredient, Acemannan, may enhance how a substance moves from one place to another and may improve the ease at which a substance can pass through a natural barrier.

That’s part three of a four-part study on absorption enhancement using aloe vera and its active ingredient, Acemannan. Be sure to access other presentations on this subject with an emphasis on absorption enhancement using aloe vera. Meanwhile, this is Tony McWilliams. I hope you will always be careful to maintain good works to meet urgent needs and become heroes to your generation.