European Journal of Scientific Research - EuroJournals

Effects of Ethyl acetate Portion of Syzygium Aromaticum Flower Bud Extract on
Indomethacin-Induced Gastric Ulceration and Gastric Secretion 906
indigenous medicine in India, and in Unani Medicine. (Trease and Evans, 1972). It is commonly called
“Kanumfari” in Hausa and ‘Kanumfo’ in Yoruba.
Clove is reported as aphrodisiac (Khan, 1893; Tajuddin et al., 2004), stomachic (Nadkarni,
2000; Attar, 1370), carminative, antispasmodic (Khory and Katrak, 1985; Pourgholami et al., 1990). It
is also reported to be useful in conceiving in high doses and acts as a contraceptive in low doses (Ibn
Al-Baytar, 1869) and useful in cataract (Raazi, 1961).
Peptic ulcers are sores or eroded areas that form in the lining mucosa of the stomach,
duodenum, lower esophagus and Merkel’s diverticulum. They affect more than 4 million people each
year in the United States (Graham, 1996). Peptic ulcer is the most common gastrointestinal disorder in
clinical practice. Oxidative stress and free radical-mediated processes have been implicated in the
pathogenesis of gastrointestinal disorders (Salim, 1992).In the absence of non-steroidal anti
inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) use or acid hypersecretory states such as Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome,
Helicobacter pylori is the causative factor in 75% of all patients with gastric ulcer and 90% of all
patients with duodenal ulcer (Falk, 2000).
Three classes of drugs have been shown to have a direct effect on Helicobacter pylori:
antibiotics, bismuth salts, and proton pump inhibitors. Because Helicobacter pylori is difficult to
eradicate, most treatment regimens combine agents from two or even all three of these cases. In all of
them, patients with active peptic disease should also receive a total of 6 weeks of acid suppression with
an H2 receptor antagonist. Peptic ulcer therapy through this combination of drugs has not been very
effective due to non-compliance to drugs by patients and possible side effects of the drugs being taken
continuously (Peura, 1998).
Considering the several side effects of modern medicine, indigenous drugs with fewer side
effects should be looked for as a better alternative for the treatment of peptic ulcer (Salim, 1992).
Recent studies found that different substances from plant sources not only afford gastroprotection but
also accelerate ulcer healing. They may also possess anti-inflammatory action by suppressing the
neutrophil/cytokine cascade in gastrointestinal tract (GIT) (Alarcon de la Lastra et al., 1995),
promoting tissue repair though expression of various growth factors, exhibiting antioxidant (Kim et al.,
2004) scavenging reactive oxygen species (ROS) (Pastrada-Bonilla et al., 2003; Liu, et al., 2002),
showing anti-nucleolytic, cytochrome P450 2F1 inhibitory, anti-necrotic and anti-carcinogenic
activities (Bagchi et al., 2002).
There are various plant-originated "gastroprotectors" with different composition that have been
used in clinical and folk medicine by many countries due to their beneficial effects on the mucosa of
GIT. In China and Japan, polyphenol extracts such as Sopharadin extracts, containing flavonoids and
its synthetic flavonoid derivative known as Solon are widely employed in peptic ulcer therapy and also
as food additives and nutritional supplements, mainly because of their strong inhibition of
prostaglandin (PG) metabolism and vasoconstrictive leukotriene inhibition (Kyogoku et al., 1979).
This study aims at throwing some lights on the effects of ethyl acetate portion of the ethanolic
extract of Syzigium aromaticum flower bud on indomethacin-induced gastric mucosal damage and
gastric secretion which may help in detection of some gastroprotective properties of this extract.
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Chemicals and drugs
The following chemicals and drugs were used: Absolute Ethanol (Sigma Aldrich), Ethyl acetate
(ETAC) (Sigma Aldrich), Indomethacin (Chiesi) ampoule was used in a dose of 20 mg/kg S.C. as
reported by Okabe et al. (1977) and Urushidani et al. (1979). Cimetidine (Lek Pharm. Slovenia) was
used in a dose of 50 mg/kg S.C. (Moron et al., 1982) and in a dose of 100 mg/kg S.C. as reported by
Satoh et al. (1983), sodium hydroxide (NaOH) (England), phenolphthalein (E.Merck Darmstadt,
Germany)