Mechanisms of gastroprotection of methanol extract of Melastoma malabathricum leaves

• Main Authors: Balan, T. (Author), Kek, T.L (Author), Mamat, S.S (Author), Mohtarrudin, N. (Author), Salleh, M.Z (Author), Zakaria, Z.A (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: BioMed Central Ltd. 2015
• Subjects: animal; animal cell; animal experiment; animal model; animal tissue; Animals; Anti-inflammatory; antiinflammatory activity; Antioxidant; antioxidant activity; Article; carbenoxolone; catalase; cell viability; chemistry; controlled study; drug dose comparison; drug effects; ethanol-induced gastric ulcer; Gastric Juice; gastrointestinal mucosa protective agent; Gastroprotective mechanisms; glutathione peroxidase; glutathione reductase; high performance liquid chromatography; in vitro study; lipoxygenase; macrophage; male; Male; medicinal plant; Melastoma malabathricum; Melastoma malabathricum extract; Melastomaceae; Melastomataceae; methanol; Methanol; Methanol extract; myeloperoxidase; n(g) nitroarginine methyl ester; nitric oxide; Nitric oxide; nonhuman; plant extract; Plant Extracts; plant leaf; Plant Leaves; protective agent; Protective Agents; pylorus ligation induced gastric ulcer; quercitrin; ranitidine; rat; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Sprague Dawley rat; stomach; Stomach; stomach juice; stomach mucus; stomach pH; stomach protection; Sulfhydryl group; superoxide dismutase; thiobarbituric acid reactive substance; thiol derivative; unclassified drug; xanthine oxidase
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher; View in Scopus

 Background: Melastoma malabathricum L. (Melastomaceae) is a small shrub with various medicinal uses. The present study was carried out to determine the gastroprotective mechanisms of methanol extract of M. malabathricum leaves (MEMM) in rats. Methods: The extract's mechanisms of gastroprotection (50, 250, 500 mg/kg) were studied using the pylorus-ligation in rat model wherein volume, pH, free and total acidity of gastric juice, and gastric wall mucus content were determined. The involvement of endogenous nitric oxide (NO) and sulfhydryl (SH) compounds in the gastroprotective effect of MEMM were also measured. MEMM was subjected to the antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and phytochemical analysis and HPLC profiling. Results: MEMM contained various phyto-constituents with quercitrin being identified as part of them. MEMM and quercitrin: i) significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the volume and acidity of gastric juice while increasing the pH and gastric wall mucus content.; ii) significantly (p < 0.05) increased the level of SOD, GTP and GTR while significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the level of CAT, MPO and TBARS activities.; iii) exerted gastroprotective activity when assessed using the ethanol-induced gastric ulcer assay, which was reversed by NG-nitro-l-arginine methyl esters (L-NAME; an inhibitor of NO synthase) and N-ethylmaleimide (NEM; a sulfhydryl (SH) blocker). MEMM inhibited the lipoxygenase (LOX) and xanthine oxidase (XO) activities with the highest affinity for the former while quercitrin showed high affinity for XO activity. Conclusions: MEMM exhibited a gastroprotective activity due partly to the presence of quercitrin, its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, and via the modulation of NO and SH groups. © 2015 Zakaria et al.