The protective activity of Conyza blinii saponin against acute gastric ulcer induced by ethanol

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Conyza blinii H.Lev., is a type of natural plant. Its dried overground section is used to treat infections and inflammations in traditional Chinese medicine. Triterpenoidal saponins have a wide range of bioactivities, for instance, anti-cancer, anti-virus and anti-anaphylaxis. Conyza blinii saponin (CBS), mainly composed of triterpenoidal saponins, is the total saponin of Conyza blinii H.Lev. It has been reported that CBS also has gastric mucous membrane protection activity. This study aims to test CBS's protective activity of gastric's mucous membrane against ethanol. This investigation may lead to the development of novel drug from natural products as anti-ulcer agent, or as gastric mucous protective against chemical damage. Materials and methods: CBS (Conyza blinii saponin) is the total saponin of Conyza blinii H.Lev., which was obtained as described previously. We tested the protective activity of CBS against ethanol-induced ulcer. Thirty six rats were grouped randomly as 'NORMAL', 'CONTROL', 'MODEL', 'LOW DOSE', 'MEDIUM DOSE' and 'HIGH DOSE'. The 'NORMAL' group were rats with no pathological model established within it. The 'CONTROL' group was administrated with colloidal bismuth subcitrate, while 'MODEL' group was not given any active agents apart from absolute ethanol in order to obtain gastric ulcer model. The three 'DOSE' groups were treated with different concentrations of CBS (5, 10, 20 mg/mL) before administration followed by absolute ethanol. All rats were sacrificed after the experiment to acquire the gastric tissue. The ulcer index (Ul), malondialdehyde (MDA) and superoxide dismutase (SOD) were measured to monitor the activity of CBS. Besides, the rat gastric tissue was made to paraffin section and stained using the Hematoxylin-Eosin (HE) method. The histopathology examination was carried out to examine CBS efficacy in terms of gastric mucous protection. Results: We found that CBS had a profound protection activity against acute gastric ulcer induced by ethanol and this activity displayed a concentration-dependent manner. The efficacy of 10 and 20 mg/mL CBS was comparable with colloidal bismuth subcitrate (P<0.05). All three level of CBS tested were able to significantly reduce UI, MDA and enhance SOD level (P<0.05). Conclusions: It was deduced that the mechanism for such activity would be anti-lipid peroxidation, facilitating free radicals clearance. In addition, histopathology examination of the gastric mucous membrane supported the same conclusion, that CBS can efficiently suppress the inflammatory reactions, bleeding and protect the gastric mucosa. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.