Abstract

Buzhong Yi Qi Wan’ is a combination of medicinal herbs widely used in Traditional Chinese Medicine to treat digestive and circulation disorders. It is an anti-inflammatory biocomplex with energizing and anti-cancer properties, and it should have an effect in natural killer cell (NK) activity, improving immunological capacity in elderly people. Substances present in the ‘Buzhong Yi Qi Wan’ extract could alter the cell membrane and plasma of blood constituents and have a hemolytic effect, causing the generation of free radicals that have oxidant properties, and could alter Nuclear Medicine procedures. Stannous chloride (SnCl₂) is the reducing agent utilized with technetium-99 m (99 mTc) in the labeling of blood constituents. The aim of this work was to evaluate the effect of aqueous extract of ‘Buzhong Yi Qi Wan’ on the survival of Escherichia coli submitted to the treatment with stannous ion, to understand this reducing agent action. The extracts of ‘Buzhong Yi Qi Wan’ were not capable of interfering in the survival of E. coli. Moreover, this extract protected the E. coli against the SnCl₂ action; this fact can be related to the free radical-scavenging properties of the chemical compounds of the extract.

Key words: Stannous chloride, oxidant agent, ‘Buzhong Yi Qi Wan’, Escherichia coli.