title: Hypericum perforatum extracts healed gastric lesions induced by hypothermic restraint stress in Wistar rats.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To investigate the healing effects of Hypericum perforatum (HP) on gastric mucosal damage induced by hypothermic restraint stress (HRS.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty Wistar breed rats of 200-250 gm were used in this study carried out at the Biology Department of Dumlupinar University, Kutahya, Turkey in 2006. The animals were divided into 6 groups, 2 of which were controls. The HRS were induced by strapping the rats on a wooden plank and keeping them for 3 hours at 4 degrees Celsius after a starvation period of 36 hours. After HRS, 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg/day Hypericum perforatum extracts (HPEs) were orally administrated to the 3 groups during the 3-day treatment. Fifty mg/kg ranitidine was administered everyday as subcutaneous injection to a group selected as a positive control. At the end of treatment, lesions in the stomach were evaluated macroscopically and microscopically.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Macroscopic analyses showed that treatment with HPEs 25, 50, and 100 mg/kg/day significantly healed lesions compared to control groups by 65, 95, and 75% (p=0.001). Treatment with ranitidine also healed ulcers significantly compared with the control groups. Histopathologic analyses indicated that 50 mg/kg/day HP produced the most significant effect.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Moderate doses of HP produced significant healing of HRS induced gastric ulcer in rats. The present study indicated that HPEs have therapeutic potential for the control of ulcers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, Faculty of Science and Arts, Dumlupinar University, Kutahya, Turkey. kcayci@dumlupinar.edu.tr
authors.forename: Muhammet K
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Cayci
authors.forename: Hayri
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Dayioglu
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D020902:Hypericum / Q000737:chemistry*; D007035:Hypothermia; D007103:Immobilization; D008297:Male; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D013276:Stomach Ulcer / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts