Abstract
BackgroundCuphea ignea is one of the herbal resources belonging to Lythraceae family. Some species of this family have been used traditionally in South and Central America’s folk medicine for treating stomach disorders. Therefore, the present study was performed to evaluate the gastropreventive effect of aqueous ethanolic extract of C. ignea aerial parts on ethanol-induced gastric ulcer.MethodsGastric ulcers were induced in Sprague Dawley rats using one oral dose of absolute ethanol (1.5 mL/rat). The C. ignea aerial parts extract at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight and ranitidine (a reference drug) at a dose of 30 mg/kg body weight were orally administrated daily for 7 days before ulcer induction. One hour after ethanol administration blood samples were collected and then stomachs of sacrificed rats were subjected to biochemical, macroscopic and microscopic studies.ResultsOral administration of C. ignea extract significantly attenuated gastric ulcer as revealed by significant reduction in the gastric ulcer index and volume of gastric juice while significantly increased preventive percentage, gastric pH value and pepsin activity. Pre-treatment of C. ignea extract markedly improved the serum level of TNF-α, the gastric MPO activity and NO content. Furthermore, C. ignea pre-treatment significantly increased the gastric levels of enzymatic and non- enzymatic antioxidants namely CAT, SOD, GSH-Px, and GSH with concomitant reduction in MDA level compared with those in the ethanol group. These results were further supported by histopathological findings which revealed the curing effect of C. ignea on the hemorrhagic shock induced by ethanol toxicity.ConclusionsC. ignea extract showed a potential gastroprotective effect on ethanol-induced gastric ulcer, and its effect may be mediated through suppression of oxidative stress and gastric inflammation.
Highlights
Cuphea ignea is one of the herbal resources belonging to Lythraceae family
Phytochemical examination The qualitative phytochemical screening of aqueous ethanolic extract of C. ignea plant revealed the presence of phenolics, flavonoids, tannins, alkaloids, carbohydrates, glycosides, triterpenens and unsaturated sterols
Alcohol consumption has been considered as a leading cause of gastric ulcer in humans; researchers used the animal model of gastric injury induced by ethanol to simulate conditions that humans may be exposed, to study the antiulcer efficacy of natural products or new therapeutics intended to be used for gastric protection [4]
Summary
Cuphea ignea is one of the herbal resources belonging to Lythraceae family. Some species of this family have been used traditionally in South and Central America’s folk medicine for treating stomach disorders. Gastric ulcer is a benign lesion with multiple etiologies, associated with an imbalance between gastric protective factors and aggressive physical, chemical or psychological factors on the mucosal epithelium [1] These aggressive factors include physical stress, prominent tobacco consumption, alcohol or caffeine, certain types of medications, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory. In spite of the domination of synthetic drugs in managing most of human diseases including gastric ulcer, extensive proportion worldwide directed to traditional medicine [5] This may be, in part, due to considerable incidence of side effects, drug interactions, microbial resistance and high cost during chemical therapy [6]. A new world genus, is considered the largest genera of Lythraceae family [11] Plants of this genus had been used in the Brazilian folk medicine as an oral contraceptive, hypotensive, diuretic, anti-inflammatory, antipyretic and laxative [12]. Some species of this genus have been used for treating stomach disorders, gonorrhea, syphilis and cancer [13, 14]
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