腸胃道是人體進行食物消化與養分吸收最主要的位置，在維持身體正常運作中扮演重要角色。除幽門螺旋桿菌感染外，不良生活習慣、不當用藥、壓力累積等導致胃潰瘍產生，反覆患病且未改善，則易導致胃出血、胃穿孔，甚至罹患胃癌。另一方面，潰瘍性結腸炎是一種自發性結腸黏膜慢性炎症，當前療法不易根治且易復發，近年亞洲各國患病率逐年增加，長期患潰瘍性結腸炎容易讓腸黏膜發育不全，也會使罹癌風險增加。對生活步調緊湊的社會而言，如何有效緩解、控制胃潰瘍及潰瘍性結腸炎症狀、降低發病率並有效治療是重要的研究議題。深層海水得自海平面200公尺以下富含各種離子與高生物活性的有機成分之低溫、乾淨穩定的無污染水。先前研究顯示，深層海水中的部分物質具有清除活性氧物質之功效且能抑制十二指腸潰瘍與細胞凋亡，本研究欲探討飲用深層海水的保護特性，降低胃潰瘍與結腸發炎反應，緩和急性胃腸發炎病狀。實驗結果顯示，深層海水能減少因潰瘍產生的自由基、透過抑制p38與NF-κB活化降低發炎反應、調節P2X7相關路徑減緩細胞凋亡，具抗氧化、抗炎、抗凋亡之功效。

Gastrointestinal tract is the main place to digest food and to absorb nutrients in human body. It plays an important role for maintaining health in our body. Helicobacter pylori infection is the most common cause of gastric ulcer, bad eating habitats, and excess mental stress are all causes as well. If people has gotten gastric ulcer repeatedly for a long time, it will turn into gastric hemorrhage, gastric perforation, and gastric cancer. Ulcerative colitis is a spontaneous chronic inflammation of colonic mucosa. It is also easy to make the intestinal mucosa underdeveloped, and even leads to intestinal cancer. The count of patients bothered by ulcerative colitis in Asian countries is getting higher recently. For the fast-moving society, how to effectively alleviate and control gastric ulcer and ulcerative colitis, reduce their incidence, and explore effective treatments are important. The deep ocean water is obtained from low-temperature, clean, non-polluting water rich in various ions and highly biologically active organic components below 200 meters below sea level. Previous study indicated that some substances in deep ocean water have the effect of removing active oxygen substances and can inhibit duodenal ulcers and apoptosis. This research aims to alleviate the inflammation and symptoms of gastric ulcer, ulcerative colitis, and acute gastroenteritis by drinking the deep ocean water. Our data found that deep ocean water confers antioxidant, anti-inflammation and anti-apoptosis activity, or property to protect stomach and colon against oxidative stress.

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