Phytopharmacological Evaluation of Alcoholic Extract of Berberis aristata Leaf in the Treatment of Gastric Ulcer

Abstract

For over a century, peptic ulcer has been one of the most common gastrointestinal tract (GIT) disorder. There are number of drugs are now available for treatment. Drugs of herbal origin reduce the offensive factors and have proved to be safe, clinically effective, relatively less expensive, globally competitive, and with better patient tolerance.This study was performed to assess the anti-ulcer activity on different parts of B.aristata. Apart from that, acute toxicity, qualitative chemical analysis, total phenolic content (TPC), total flavonoid content(TFC) and in vitro antioxidant activities were evaluated. The potentially active plant part was selected for screening as gastro protective, in vivo antioxidant and antisecretory activities in ulcerated rats.The 50% ethanolic extract of B. aristata were subjected to preliminary phytochemical screening, estimation of TFC and TPC. The crude extract from the leaves of B. aristata gave best antiulcer activity among flower and stem. In acute toxicity studies, the administration of the crude extract of B. aristata leaves did not reveal any adverse effects or toxicity in rats at fourteen days observations.The results of these studies have shown that ethylexract of B.aristata leaf (EEBAL) produced a significant dose dependent ulcerprotective, antioxidant and antisecretory activity by blocking the activity of proton pump, protecting from antioxidants produced during stress induced ulcer and by enhancing glycoprotein levels.