Research Article
Qualitative/Chemical Analyses of Ankaferd Hemostat and
Its Antioxidant Content in Synthetic Gastric Fluids
Ahmet Koluman,
1
Nejat Akar,
2
Umit Y. Malkan,
3
and Ibrahim C. Haznedaroglu
3
1
National Food Reference Laboratory, Department of Mineral Analyses, Ministry of Food Agriculture and Livestock,
06170 Ankara, Turkey
2
Department of Pediatric Hematology, TOBB-ETU Hospital, 06570 Ankara, Turkey
3
Department of Adult Hematology, Hacettepe University Medical School, 06100 Ankara, Turkey
Correspondence should be addressed to Umit Y. Malkan; umitmalkan@hotmail.com
Received 30 November 2015; Revised 29 December 2015; Accepted 6 January 2016
Academic Editor: Gail B. Mahady
Copyright © 2016 Ahmet Koluman et al. Tis is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution
License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly
cited.
Introduction. Ankaferd hemostat (ABS) is the frst topical haemostatic agent involving the red blood cell-fbrinogen interactions.
Te antihemorrhagic efcacy of ABS has been tested in controlled clinical trials. Te drug induces the formation of an encapsulated
complex protein web with vital erythroid aggregation. Te aim of this study is to detect the essential toxicity profle and the
antioxidant molecules inside ABS. Methods. Te pesticides were analyzed by GC-MS and LC-MS. Te determination by ICP-MS
afer pressure digestion was performed for the heavy metals. HPLC was used for the detection of mycotoxins. Dioxin Response
Chemically Activated Luciferase Gene Expression method was used for the dioxin evaluation. TOF-MS and spectra data were
evaluated to detect the antioxidants and other molecules. Results. TOF-MS spectra revealed the presence of several antioxidant
molecules (including tocotrienols, vitamin E, tryptophan, estriol, galangin, apigenin, oenin, 3,4-divanillyltetrahydrofuran, TBHQ,
thymol, BHA, BHT, lycopene, glycyrrhetinic acid, and tomatine), which may have clinical implications in the pharmacobiological
actions of ABS. Conclusion. Te safety of ABS regarding the presence of heavy metals, pesticides, mycotoxins, GMO and dioxins,
and PCBs was demonstrated. Tus the present toxicological results indicated the safety of ABS. Te antioxidant content of ABS
should be investigated in future studies.
1. Introduction
Ankaferd hemostat, ABS, is the frst topical haemostatic agent
involving the red blood cell- (RBC-) fbrinogen interactions.
ABS comprises a standardized mixture of the plants Tymus
vulgaris, Glycyrrhiza glabra, Vitis vinifera, Alpinia ofci-
narum, and Urtica dioica (reviewed in [1]). Te overall hemo-
static efects of ABS depend upon the protein agglutination
and polymerization modulating the erythroid aggregation
within the vascular endothelial system [1, 2]. Prohemostatic
and antithrombin activities of Ankaferd hemostat are linked
to the fbrinogen gamma chain and prothrombin [2]. ABS
induces the formation of an encapsulated complex protein
web with vital erythroid aggregation covering the entire phys-
iological hemostatic process [3]. Te unique hemostatic prop-
erties of ABS provide a balanced hemostasis representing
a basis for physiological wound healing [4–8]. Te structural
and functional properties of the proteins related to the biolog-
ical efects of ABS have previously been investigated with the
functional proteomics [9] and transcriptomics [10] analyses.
Randomized clinical trials (RCT) indicated the safety and
efcacy of ABS for the topical control of clinical hemorrhages
in a wide variety of settings [11–18]. Likewise, the cumulating
preliminary data points out the expanding spectrum of ABS.
For instance, a recent clinical study by Patiroglu et al. has
demonstrated that oral topical ABS use at the beginning
of chemotherapy could provide less oral mucositis when
compared to the control group in the pediatric patients with
cancer [19]. Moreover, experimental antineoplastic activities
of ABS have been shown in rats and cancer cell lines [20–22].
ABS may be used as a supportive agent together with the
antituberculosis treatments during debridement of multiple
Hindawi Publishing Corporation
BioMed Research International
Volume 2016, Article ID 8957820, 8 pages
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2016/8957820