Abstract

CYTOPROTECTIVE AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF THE STEM BARK AQUEOUS EXTRACT OF ENANTIA CHLORANTHA OLIVER (ANNONACEAE) IN RATS

Kuissu Teukam Mimosette Mesmine, Mezui Christophe, Nkwengoua Zondengoumba Ernestine and Tan Paul Vernyuy*

ABSTRACT

Enantia chlorantha is a plant used in African traditional medicine to treat many diseases including gastric ulcers. In this study, we evaluated the anti-ulcerogenic effects of the aqueous extract of the stem bark of this plant using different methods of gastric lesion induction in experimental Wistar rats (140-190 g): 1. HCl/Ethanol, 2. HCl/Ethanol/Indomethacin, 3. indomethacin, 4. absolute ethanol, 5. cold water immersion 6. Pylorus ligation. Phytochemical screening of the aqueous extract of Enantia chlorantha revealed the presence of phytoconstituents such as tannins, alkaloids, saponins, flavonoids. The extract at different doses (250 and 500 mg/kg) significantly reduced the ulcer index in all models used (67.87 % (p <0.001) with HCl/ethanol; 63.39 % (p <0.001) with HCl/ethanol/indomethacin; 78 % (p <0.001) with absolute ethanol; 65.22 % (p <0.05) with pylorus ligation), at the highest dose of 500 mg/kg. Apart from pylorus ligation where the mucus production increased but not in a significant manner, the reduction of lesion formation in the other models was accompanied by a very significant increase in gastric mucus production. The pylorus ligation technique revealed that the extract has no antisecretory activity. The oxidative stress parameter assay indicates a significant drop of MDA concentration in the extract-treated groups. The results show that the extract can offer cytoprotection to the gastric mucosa by a mechanism which involves its antioxidant potential particularly by reducing the level of MDA.

Keywords: Enantia chlorantha, gastric ulcer, cytoprotection, antioxidant.