Potent antiulcerogenic activity of ethanol extract of leaf of Piper betle linn by antioxidative mechanism

Pretreatment of an ethanolic extract of leaf of Piper betle linn at a dose of 200mg/kg body weight, orally administered to rats for ten consecutive days, was found to possess a significant protective action against gastric lesions induced by indomethacin.The extract pretreatment resulted in significant increase in superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activity, increase in mucus, hexosamine and total thiol group content, but marked reduction in oxidatively damaged protein and peroxidised lipid levels as compared to untreated ulcerated control. The extract was also found to possess both superoxide and hydroxyl free radical scavenging action.The present observations establish the efficacy of the extract in prevention of experimentally induced peptic ulcer by indomethacin and antioxidant property appears to be predominantly responsible for such cytoprotectivé activity in the experimental model.