Antiulcerogenic Effect of Zataria multiflora Boiss. on Cysteamine Induced Duodenal Ulcer in Rats

Research advances during recent years offer new insight into therapy and theprevention of gastrointestinal ulcers by using medicinal plants. flavonoids, tannins,triterpenoids, fatty acids and essential oils are among the most effective herbalconstituents that have potential antiulcerogenic properties, and most of them couldbe found in zataria multiflora. z. multiflora is one of the indigenous plants of iran,which is readily available and traditionally used to improve gastrointestinal disorders.in a recent trial, we decided to study the potential antiulcerogenic effects of the planton an animal model of duodenal ulcer. hydroalcoholic extract of the plant with dosesof 200, 400, 800 and 1200 mg/kg, ranitidine (50 mg/kg), sucralfate (2 g/kg) and 1ml of the vehicle were administered orally to different groups of male wistar rats.two other groups received (i.p.) vehicle (1 ml) and extract (800 mg/kg). duodenumulcers were induced by cysteamine hcl and the number of ulcers, area, and finallyulcer index were assessed. ranitidine and sucralfate resulted in significant reductionin the duodenal mucosal damage for the entire ulcer factors assessed. increasing dosesof the extract resulted in a significant reduction in ulcerated area and index in a dosedependent manner. we concluded that z. multiflora extract was effective in protectingagainst duodenal ulceration, and for the larger doses used, the efficacy wascomparable with the reference drugs. the mechanism of action couldn’t be clearlyproposed for the plant extract, however; the local mucosal enhancement andcytoprotection may be involved.