A butanol fraction from a methanolic extract of Aralia elata (root bark), which has been used against diabetes, gastritis and neuralgia as a folk remedy, was found to possesses a significant anti-ulcer activity in nine different experimental animal models. Prernedication tests in rats revealed that the butanol fraction possess significant protective action against the gastric lesions induced by HCl-ethanol, absolute ethanol, 0.6N-HCl, indomethacin, aspirin, reserpine, acidified aspirin.
The results indicated that the oral administration of butanol fraction at the doses of 30~300 ㎎/㎏ significantly inhibitied the development of lesion induced by the various ulcer models and increased the content of gastric mucin in rats. This protection with an oral dose of 100 ㎎/㎏ persisted for up to 4 hrs. The pretreatment with 5 ㎎/㎏ of indomethacin and 10 ㎎/㎏ of N-ethylmaleimide given subcutaneously did not appreciably reverse the protective activity in the HCl-ethanol ulcer models. These results suggest that the butanol fraction from methanolic extract has gastric protective activity.
|