Protective effects of ethanol extract of a Mexican propolis on indomethacin-induced gastric mucosal damage in mice.

Peptic ulcer is a lesion in the gastric mucosa. Current treatments exhibit limited efficacy and several side effects, which makes it necessary to search for new alternatives[1]. One of these alternatives can be propolis. This natural product contains mainly phenols and flavonoids, which are directly related to its antioxidant, antimicrobial and anti-inflammatory activities[2]. The aim of this project was to evaluate the gastroprotective effect of the ethanolic extract of Mexicali propolis (EeMeP) in a model of indomethacin-induced gastric ulceration in mice.

Gastric lesions were induced by intragastric administration of indomethacin at a dose of 20 mg/Kg[3]. Treatment with EeMeP (100, 200 and 300 mg/Kg) was administered 2 hours before indomethacin.

The results show that the EeMeP contains chrysin, kaempferol, luteolin, pinocembrin, quercetin, baicalein, apigenin and myricetin, as well as a high free-radical scavenging capacity (89.92 μg/mL) which is related to the concentration of phenols (28.66 %) and flavonoids (6.02%). EeMeP showed aniinflammatory and antimicrobial activity. Group treated with EeMeP presented a reduction in the percentage of lesion area, attenuation of histological damage and maintenance of the mucus barrier, which can be translated as a protection of the gastric tissue compared with the group without treatment. In the group treated with EeMeP, the activity of MPO, and the levels of TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6, decreased significantly. In the same group, an increase in the activity of GPx and SOD was observed.

We show that EeMeP has a gastroprotective effect and that this effect can be attributed to its flavonoid content.

Fig. 1

• References

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• 2 Zeitoun R, Najjar F, Wehbi B, Khalil A, Fayyad-Kazan M, Dagher-Hamalian C, Faour WH, El-Makhour Y. Chemical composition, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity evaluation of the Lebanese propolis extract. Curr Pharm Biotechnol 2019; 20: 84-96.
• 3 Barboza KRM, Coco LZ, Alves GM, Peters B, Vasquez EC, Pereira TMC, Meyrelles SS, Campagnaro BP. Gastroprotective effect of oral kefir on indomethacin-induced acute gastric lesions in mice: Impact on oxidative stress. Life Sci 2018; 209: 370-376.