Gastroprotective and Ulcer-Healing Mechanisms of Ellagic Acid in Experimental Rats

• Published in: Journal of agricultural and food chemistry Vol. 59; no. 13; pp. 6957 - 6965
• Main Authors: Beserra, Angela Márcia Selhorst e Silva, Calegari, Pedro Ivo, Souza, Maria do Carmo, dos Santos, Rogério Alexandre Nunes, Lima, Joaquim Corsino da Silva, Silva, Regilane Matos, Balogun, Sikiru Olaitan, Martins, Domingos Tabajara de Oliveira
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington, DC American Chemical Society 13.07.2011
• Subjects: Acetic Acid; Animals; anti-ulcer activity; Anti-Ulcer Agents - therapeutic use; antioxidant activity; Bioactive Constituents; Biological and medical sciences; Cytokines - blood; Dinoprostone - analysis; ellagic acid; Ellagic Acid - therapeutic use; Ethanol; Female; Food industries; Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology; Gastric Mucosa - chemistry; Indomethacin; interferon-gamma; Leukotriene B4 - blood; long term effects; Male; Mucus - drug effects; nitric oxide; oral administration; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Stomach Ulcer - chemically induced; Stomach Ulcer - drug therapy; Stomach Ulcer - prevention & control; sulfhydryl groups; tumor necrosis factor-alpha; antiulcer mechanism; antioxidant; nitric oxide; cytokines; ellagic acid; ulcer healing; Vertebrata; Mammalia; Rat; Ellagic acid; Nitric oxide; Rodentia; Antioxidant; Mechanism
• ISSN: 0021-8561; 1520-5118
• DOI: 10.1021/jf2003267

Ellagic acid (EA), a plant-derived polyphenol, exhibits antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and gastroprotective effects. Its gastroprotective mechanisms have not been fully elucidated nor have its effects on chronic ulcer previously been described. Toward these ends, the antiulcer activities of EA were evaluated in acute (ethanol and indomethacin) and chronic (acetic acid) ulcer models in Wistar rats. In this study, oral administration of EA significantly prevented the gastric ulceration caused by ethanol, indomethacin, and acetic acid treatments. Its gastroprotective mechanism in ethanol-induced ulcer were partly due to intensification in the endogenous production of nitric oxide, an antioxidant effect by replenishing depletion of endogenous nonprotein sulfhydryls and attenuation of tumor necrosis factor-α increase, whereas in indomethacin ulcer, it is partly due to a reduction in the plasma level of leukotriene B4. In acetic acid ulcer, promotion of ulcer-healing effects was partly due to attenuation of the elevated levels of the inflammatory cytokines TNF-α, interferon-γ, and interleukins-4 and -6. These findings suggest that ellagic acid exerts its antiulcer activity by strengthening the defensive factors and attenuating the offensive factors.