Emblica officinalis Fruits Afford Protection Against Experimental Gastric Ulcers in Rats

The anti-ulcerogenic activity of fresh fruit juice of Emblica officinalis and its methnol extract were evaluated in absolute ethanol-, indomethacin- and histamine-induced experimen-tal ulcers in rats. Gastric ulcers induced by oral administration of absolute ethanol (5 ml/kg) to fasted rats were reduced dose-dependently by oral pretreatment of animals with either E. officinalis fruit juice or its methanol extract (25–100 mg/kg). Ethanol administration caused severe gastric damage with an ulcer index of 4.6 ± 0.5, a 44% reduction in glutathione (GSH) content of gastric mucosa, an increase in stomach weight due to inflammation (1.24 ± 0.12 g/100 g body weight), intraluminal bleeding (100%), and increased mortality rate (44%). E. officinalis fresh fruit juice administration (50 mg/kg) 30 min before alcohol challenge, reduced the ulcer index to 1.8 ± 0.7, limited the depletion of GSH to 15.2%, reduced the stomach weight to 0.75 ± 0.12 g/100 g body weight, and afforded 100% protection against mortality and intraluminal bleeding. Administration of indomethacin (25 mg/kg) and histamine (10 mg/kg) increased the ulcer index to 2.2 ± 0.7 and 1.8 ± 0.7 respectively, and a 28.5 and 20.6% depletion in mucosal GSH, respectively, as compared to normal rats. E. officinalis administration showed a dose-dependent protective effect against gastric damage induced by indomethacin and histamine. The protection afforded by E. officinalis fruits was found to be better than that of ranitidine (50 mg/kg). The results of the present study suggested the novel cytoprotective activity of E. officinalis fruits on gastric mucosal cells.