AMELIORATIVE EFFECT OF METHANOL EXTRACT OF CHASMANTHERA DEPENDENS ON ETHANOL INDUCED ULCERATED RATS

ABSTRACT

Peptic ulcer are open sores that develops on the inside lining of the stomach and the upper portion of the small intestine. A peptic ulcer can be described as a defect in the upper gastrointestinal mucosa that extend through the muscularis mucosa into the deeper layee of the gut wall.The antiulcer activity of Chasmanthera dependens has been explored using ethanol ulcer models, which represent some of the most common causes of gastric ulcer in humans. Many factors and mechanisms are implicated in the ulcerogenesis and gastric mucosal damage induced by different models employed in the present study.The present study has shown that ethanol (1ml) administered as a single dose after fasting rats for a period of 24 hours caused significant damage to the mucosal lining of the GIT (Gastrointestinal tract).Ethanol-induuced gastric injury is associated with significant production of oxygen free radicals leading to increased lipid peroxidation, which causes damage to cell and cell membrane (Aktay et al., 2004). The ethanol stem bark extract of Chasmanthera dependens significantly treated and the gastric mucosa against the ulcerogen as shown by reduced values of lesion index as compared to the control group, suggesting its potent cytoprotective and free radical scavenging activity. This study was carried out to evaluate the ameliorative effect of methanol extract of Chasmanthera dependens on ethanol induced ulcerated rats.