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From Folklore to Good Science:
New Uses for Mastic Gum
Mastic gum, a resin from an evergreen shrub common in the Mediterranean and Mideast, has long been revered in folk medicine as a unique treatment for digestive disorders. The gum was used by Greeks, Egyptians and Babylonians. Though mastic trees are found throughout the Mediterranean islands, the tree that produces the healing resin is particular to the island of Chios. It has a lemony balsam-like scent that wafts through the warm, mild island air.
In the 2nd century B.C., Galenus suggested mastic was useful for bronchitis and improving the condition of the blood. In the 15th century, Christopher Columbus wrote that mastic gum was antibacterial and even used against cholera. And Thomas Fuller’s Pharmacopoeia extemporanea, published in 1710, includes mastic. In Europe, mastic gum has been used in toothpaste and mouthwash, and pharmaceutical companies use it in self-absorbing surgical threads as well as bandages for surgical wounds.
Scientific research backs up and echoes the folk wisdom: it turns out that mastic gum is so effective in healing the gut that in studies utilizing the resin, the original site of an ulcer has been completely replaced by healthy epithelial cells. In fact, researchers at the University of Nottingham found that just a gram of mastic gum per day for two weeks markedly reduced pain and resulted in rapid resolution of peptic ulcers.
Over the last few decades, research has demonstrated two powerful mechanisms by which mastic gum works: by inhibiting bacterial growth and reducing inflammation. Particularly well studied is mastic’s deadly impact on H. pylori, the infamous microbe implicated in ulcers. Most pathogenic bacteria cannot penetrate the protective lining of the stomach and small intestine, but H. pylori first alters the pH of the lining, and then drills into it, causing gastritis and ultimately ulcers. Nearly 90% of duodenal ulcers test positive for H. pylori, while 70% of gastric ulcers test positive.
Mastic’s moment arrived in 1998, when a landmark study in the New England Journal of Medicine demonstrated that the resin effectively inhibited the growth of seven different strains of H. pylori—a standard reference strain and six fresh clinical isolates. Three of the isolates were sensitive to the most common antibiotic treatment, metronidazole, and three were resistant. Mastic killed all seven strains. The minimal bactericidal concentration at 24 hours for all seven strains was 0.06 mg of crude mastic per milliliter on an agar plate. At lower concentrations, bacterial growth was significantly inhibited. Transmission electron microscopy showed obvious structural changes in the organisms.
A 2007 study from the University of Athens backs up the New England Journal of Medicine research: mastic gum given to mice over a 3-month period resulted in a 30-fold reduction of colonization with H. pylori.
Since that time, mastic gum has been studied in everything from Crohn’s disease to dental caries. It seems to have a potent anti-inflammatory mechanism of action. In Crohn’s disease, according to 2007 research from the University of Athens, mastic gum lowered levels of the inflammatory molecule tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and increased the beneficial macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF). In prostate cancer research from the University of Shanghai in 2007, mastic gum suppressed NF-kappaB activity in the prostate cancer cell. The NF-kappaB signaling pathway leads to many inflammatory molecules.
Even dental caries might be reduced with mastic gum, new research shows. In research from Süleyman Demirel University in Turkey, chewing mastic gum inhibited the common Streptococcus mutans bacteria known to cause most tooth caries. Orthodontically treated patients with fixed appliances were evaluated before chewing gum; just after chewing gum; and then after 45, 75, 105, and 135 minutes. Just after chewing the mastic gum for 15 minutes, a significant decrease of total bacteria and S. mutans was observed (P < .001). At the end of 135 minutes, there were significantly fewer S. mutans (P < .001), as well as total viable bacteria (P < .001), and even lactobacilli (P < .001) in the oral cavity. The researchers concluded that mastic gum’s powerful antibacterial effect might help prevent cavities. Even bad breath might be eased, according to a 2006 study from the Hebrew University’s Hadassah School of Dental Medicine. By measuring volatile sulfide levels in the mouth, researchers found that a number of herbs were helpful (echinacea, elder, mastic gum, marigold, sage, lavender, thyme, and chamomile). Another study from the same department tested mastic gum alone on Porphyromonas gingivalis, a bacterium implicated in gingivitis. Paper discs impregnated with mastic gum methanolic extract produced large inhibition zones without showing signs of hemolysis, and so the researchers concluded that “mastic gum may be used as a potential nontoxic local agent in treating oral malodor and gum disease.” And finally, researchers at Meikai University School of Dentistry, in Saitama, Japan, compared mastic gum to a placebo gum in a double-blind trial, and found that over a seven day period, mastic-gum chewers had significantly less bacteria in their mouths and a significantly reduced plaque index.
The benefits of mastic gum, a naturally occurring resin, are truly being rediscovered for both antimicrobial and immune modulating effects.
References:
- Kaliora AC, Stathopoulou MG, Triantafillidis JK, Dedoussis GV, Andrikopoulos NK. Alterations in the function of circulating mononuclear cells derived from patients with Crohn's disease treated with mastic. World J Gastroenterol. 2007 Dec 7;13(45):6031-6.
- He ML, Li A, Xu CS, Wang SL, Zhang MJ, Gu H, Yang YQ, Tao HH. Mechanisms of antiprostate cancer by gum mastic: NF-kappaB signal as target. Acta Pharmacol Sin. 2007 Mar;28(3):446-52.
- Paraschos S, Magiatis P, Mitakou S, Petraki K, Kalliaropoulos A, Maragkoudakis P, Mentis A, Sgouras D, Skaltsounis AL. In vitro and in vivo activities of Chios mastic gum extracts and constituents against Helicobacter pylori. Antimicrob Agents Chemother. 2007 Feb;51(2):551-9.
- Aksoy A, Duran N, Toroglu S, Koksal F.Short-term effect of mastic gum on salivary concentrations of cariogenic bacteria in orthodontic patients.Angle Orthod. 2007 Jan;77(1):124-8.
- Sterer N, Rubinstein Y.Effect of various natural medicinals on salivary protein putrefaction and malodor production.Quintessence Int. 2006 Sep;37(8):653-8.
- Sterer N.Antimicrobial effect of mastic gum methanolic extract against Porphyromonas gingivalis.J Med Food. 2006 Summer;9(2):290-2.
- Aksoy A, Duran N, Koksal F. In vitro and in vivo antimicrobial effects of mastic chewing gum against Streptococcus mutans and mutans streptococci.Arch Oral Biol. 2006 Jun;51(6):476-81.
- Takahashi K, Fukazawa M, Motohira H, Ochiai K, Nishikawa H, Miyata T.A pilot study on antiplaque effects of mastic chewing gum in the oral cavity.J Periodontol. 2003 Apr;74(4):501-5.
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