Abstract
The present study was conducted to investigate the underlying mechanisms and effective components of Polygonum hydropiper in ethanol-induced acute gastric mucosal lesions. The ethanol extract was purified on an AB-8 macroporous resin column and eluted with 60% ethanol and was then injected into the HPLC system for quantitative analysis. Sprague-Dawley rats were orally pretreated with P. hydropiper extract (PHLE; 50, 100, and 200 mg/kg) for 5 days and then absolute ethanol was administered to induce gastric mucosal damage. One hour after ethanol ingestion, the rats were euthanized and stomach samples were collected for biochemical analysis. Antioxidant enzymes and anti-inflammatory cytokines were quantified. Western blotting was used to detect the expression levels of proteins. Cell proliferation was assayed by CCK-8 assays. The proportion of total flavonoids in the final extract of P. hydropiper was 50.05%, which contained three major bioactive flavonoid constituents, including rutin, quercitrin, and quercetin. PHLE significantly increased cell viability and effectively protected human gastric epithelial cells-1 against alcohol-induced damage in vitro. PHLE pretreatment attenuated gastric mucosal injuries in a dose-dependent manner in rats, and increased the activity of superoxide dismutase, glutathione peroxidase, and glutathione, and decreased the levels of malondialdehyde in gastric tissue. Pretreatment with PHLE also reduced the generation of the pro-inflammatory cytokines tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-1β in gastric tissue by downregulating the expression of nuclear factor-kappa B. PHLE exerted protective effects against gastric injury through antioxidant and anti-inflammatory pathways. Flavonoids might be the main effective components of P. hydropiper against gastric mucosal injury.
Highlights
Acute gastric damage is a common gastrointestinal disease that affects many people worldwide and is frequently caused by excessive alcohol consumption, prolonged nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use, or stress [1,2]
The protective effect and mechanism of P. hydropiper L ethanol extract against acute gastric mucosal injury were assessed in ethanol-induced rat models
The results demonstrated that the administration of anhydrous ethanol caused macroscopic gastric mucosal injury and a significant increase in the gross ulcer index (GUI) in the model rats
Summary
Acute gastric damage is a common gastrointestinal disease that affects many people worldwide and is frequently caused by excessive alcohol consumption, prolonged nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug use, or stress [1,2]. The morbidity rate associated with the gastric injuries induced by extreme intake of alcohol is increasing each year. It is an important public health problem to relieve gastric illness, including stomach ulcers, caused by alcohol. Excessive intake of some alcoholic drinks can result in human gastric damage, and the degree of injury is closely related to ethanol concentration and quantity [3,4]. Inflammatory mediators and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are two important offensive factors in the pathogenesis of acute gastric mucosal lesions induced by ethanol [6,7,8]. During the development of gastric injury, pro-inflammatory cytokines and ROS influence and mutually promote injury, leading to aggravation of the damage. Anti-oxidation and anti-inflammation play an important role in protecting the gastric mucosa against damage
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