Gastroprotective and ulcer healing effects of piptadeniastrum Africanum on experimentally induced gastric ulcers in rats

摘要

Background Gastric peptic ulcer is one of the common disorders of gastrointestinal tract, which occur due to an imbalance between the offensive and defensive factors. It is an illness that affects a considerable number of people worldwide. This study was conducted to evaluate the antiulcerogenic and antiulcer effects and recognize the basic mechanism of action of Piptadeniastrum africanum stem bark extracts. Methods The aqueous and methanol extracts of Piptadeniastrum africanum were administered at the doses 125, 250 and 500 mg/kg to evaluate their effects on gastric ulcer induced by the HCl/ethanol mixture, indomethacin and acetic acid in Wistar strain male adult rats, aged between 12 and 16 weeks and weighing between 180 and 220 g. Ranitidine, Maalox and Misoprostol were used as standard drugs. Histopathological examination and nitric oxide level were performed to evaluate the basic mechanism of action of Piptadeniastrum africanum . Phytochemical screening was carried out to identify known phytochemicals present in these extracts. Results The aqueous and methanol extracts of stem bark of Piptadeniastrum africanum significantly inhibited ( p Conclusions Piptadeniastrum africanum stem bark extracts thus have gastroprotective and ulcer healing effects, which could result from their activities by stimulating important cellular mechanisms such as migration and proliferation of epithelial cells that may have a cytoprotective effect by stimulating the release of prostaglandins. These results are required to confirm the ethnopharmacological use of Piptadeniastrum africanum stem bark in the treatment of ulcer.