title: A Comparison between Water and Ethanol Extracts of Rumex acetosa for Protective Effects on Gastric Ulcers in Mice.
abstract: Rumex acetosa is a perennial herb that is widely distributed across eastern Asia. Although the hot water extract of R. acetosa has been used to treat gastritis or gastric ulcers as a folk medicine, no scientific report exists for the use of this plant to treat gastric ulcers. Hence, the present study was undertaken to assess the anti-ulcer activity of water and 70% ethanol extracts obtained from R. acetosa, using an HCl/ethanol-induced gastric ulcer model in mice. Anti-inflammatory and free radical-scavenging activities of these two extracts were also evaluated and compared. As a result, the administration of R. acetosa extracts significantly reduced the occurrence of gastric ulcers. However, significant differences in protective activity against gastric ulcers were observed between the two samples. In the case of the group pretreated with an ethanol extract dosage of 100 mg/kg, the protective effect (90.9%) was higher than that of water extract (41.2%). Under histological evaluation, pretreatment with R. acetosa extracts reversed negative effects, such as inflammation, edema, moderate hemorrhaging and loss of epithelial cells, presented by HCl/ ethanol-treated stomachs. Meanwhile, R. acetosa extracts showed potent DPPH radical-scavenging activity and decreased NO production in a murine macrophage cell line, RAW 264.7, in a dose-dependent manner without affecting cellular viability. The greater anti-ulcer and NO production inhibitory activities exhibited by ethanol extracts compared to water extracts could be ascribed to the higher emodin levels, a major anthraquinone component of this plant.
authors.affiliation: College of Pharmacy and Research Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 660-751, Republic of Korea.
authors.forename: Ji-Yeong
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Yoon Seok
authors.initials: YS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Sun Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Han
authors.forename: Eun Ju
authors.initials: EJ
authors.lastname: Jeong
authors.forename: Mi Kyeong
authors.initials: MK
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Jae Yang
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Dong Hoon
authors.initials: DH
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Kyeong Jae
authors.initials: KJ
authors.lastname: Cho
authors.forename: Haeng-Soon
authors.initials: HS
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Mi-Jeong
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Ahn
keywords: Anti-inflammatory activity; Antioxidant activity; Gastric ulcer; Rumex acetosa