Gastroprotective Effect of Brickellia cavanillesii (Cav) B. L. Robinson (Asteraceae) in Rats

Brickellia cavanillesii (Cass) A. Gray (Asteraceae) is a medicinal plant broadly used in México to cure stomach aches, gastritis, diabetes and several painful complaints. The dichloromethane-methanol extract (10–300mg/Kg) from the aerial parts of the plant provoked a dose-dependent reduction of ethanol-induced gastric lesions in rats (ED₅₀=30mg/Kg). The gastroprotective effect of the extract was similar to that induced by carbenoxolone, used as reference drug. In order to explore the participation of endogenous prostaglandins, nitric oxide and sulfhydryls groups, rats were pretreated with indomethacin (INDO, 10mg/Kg, s.c.), L-NAME (70mg/Kg, i.p.), and NEM (10mg/Kg, s.c.), respectively. The results revealed that only INDO, an inhibitor of prostaglandins (PGs) synthesis, abolished significantly the gastroprotective action of the extract (30mg/kg) suggesting that its mode of action involved the participation of PGs.

Figure 1. Gastroprotective effects of organic extract from the aerial parts of Brickellia cavanillesii on the gastric hemorrhagic lesions induced by absolute ethanol in rats. Carbenoxolone was used as positive control (*p<0.05).

Acknowledgements: This work was supported by grants from DGAPA (IN218110 and IN210910).

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