Role of dietary phospholipids and phytosterols in protection against peptic ulceration as shown by experiments on rats

gastric and duodenal ulceration, including ulceration due to non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs).It also promoted ulcer healing.The lipid from the pulse, Dolichos biflorus , horse gram which was highly protective was used to identify the fractions with protective activity in the lipid.The protective activity lay in the phospholipid, sterol and sterol ester fractions.In the phospholipid fraction phosphatidyl choline (lethicin) and phosphatidyl ethanolamine (cephalin) were predominant.In the sterol fraction the sub-fractions showing protective activity contained β-sitosterol, stigmasterol, and an unidentified isomer of β-sitosterol.The evidence from animal models shows that certain dietary phospholipids and phytosterols have a protective action against gastroduodenal ulceration, both singly and in combination.This supports the protective role of staple diets in areas of low duodenal ulcer prevalence and may prove to be of importance in the prevention and treatment of duodenal ulceration and management of recurrent ulcers.A combination of phospholipids and phytosterols could also play an important role in protection against ulceration due to NSAIDs.