No abstract

Ankaferd Blood Stopper® (ABS), a standardized mixture of the plants Thymus vulgaris, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Vitis vinifera, Alpinia officinarum, and Urtica dioica has been used as a haemostatic agent. However, the essential ‘mechanism of action’ of ABS is currently unknown. The aim of this study is to search the essential mechanism underlying the haemostatic actions of ABS. In our study, ABS induced a very rapid (less than 1 second) formation of a protein network within the plasma and serum. Individual clotting factors namely factor V, factor VII, factor VIII, factor IX, factor X, factor XI, factor XIII are not affected during the consecutive measurements. Plasma fibrinogen activity and antigen decreased from 302 mg/dl to 10 mg/dl, and fibrinogen antigen decreased from 299 mg/dl to 30 mg/dl, in parallel to the prolongation of thrombin time (TT). Biochemical tests also revealed that total protein, albumin, and globulin levels significantly decreased with the interactions of ABS. Red blood cells come together to form vital erythrocyte mass blocks in the presence of ABS. Vital physiological red blood cell aggregation after the exposure to Ankaferd Bloood Stopper in less than one second is depicted in Figure 1. The network of ABS could cover the entire physiological haemostatic process without unequally disturbing individual clotting factors. The basic mechanism of action for ABS appears to be the formation of an encapsulated protein network representing focal points as a niche for vital erythrocyte aggregation. ABS is a novel effective haemostatic agent that has the therapeutic potential for the management of hemorrhage in medical practice. Clinical trials with that promising medicine can provide the development of a new drug particularly active in pathological haemostasis. Figure Figure

Ankaferd comprises a standardized mixture of plants Thymus vulgaris, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Vitis vinifera, Alpinia officinarum and Urtica dioica. Ankaferd Blood Stopper (ABS) as a medicinal product has been approved in the management of external hemorrhage and dental surgery bleedings in Turkey. This study aimed to evaluate the in-vivo hemostatic effect of ABS in rats pretreated with acetylsalicylic acid or enoxaparin. Wistar rats (210-270 g) of both sexes were used in this study. The animals were pretreated with acetylsalicylic acid (10 mg/kg) orally for 4 days or enoxaparin sodium (8 mg/kg) subcutaneously for 3 days or did not receive any anticoagulant before tail cut at 4th day. ABS was administered topically [a total of 4 ml (1 ml/puff x 4)] to the cut tail in the studied animals. The duration of bleeding and the amount of bleeding were measured in order to evaluate the hemostatic effect of ABS. In acetylsalicylic acid-treated animals, topical ABS reduced both the duration and also the amount of bleeding volume by 68.4 and 54.6%, respectively. It was also effective in shortening the duration of bleeding (30.6%) and decreasing the amount of bleeding (32.8%) in enoxaparin-treated animals. ABS, a traditional folkloric medicinal plant extract, has in-vivo hemostatic actions, which may provide a therapeutic potential for the management of patients with deficient hemostasis in the clinical medicine.

The aim of this study was to assess retrospectively the hemostatic efficacy and safety of the topical use of Ankaferd Blood Stopper (ABS) in the setting of dental surgery. Following the approval from of the Local Research Ethics Committee ABS as a hemostatic agent in Dentistry, ABS was topically applied by homogeneously spraying to the 25 patients during dental interventions. Based on this retrospective evaluation; Tissue healing was evaluated at the 48th hour. The patients received 1 to 5 mL of ABS; the median dose was 2 mL. Bleeding stopped in median 1.8 seconds (1 to 3 seconds) in the first ABS application in 20 patients. Five patients needed a second dose of ABS; four of them were given 5 mL ABS totally. No patient had wound infection and the healing process appeared to be normal. ABS is useful for the local hemostasis and wound healing in periodontal surgeries.