Journal of Clinical & Experimental Pharmacology

Abstract

Evaluation of Anti-ulcer Activity of Citrus maxima (Brum.) Leaves Extract in Experimental Animals

Biswash Sapkota, Chandra Prakash K, Varsha Jain

Citrus maxima (Brum.), Rutaceae is common in Indian folk medicine for treating ulcers but, its efficacy has not been validated. This study is to evaluate the anti-ulcer activity of ethanolic and the aqueous leaves extract of Citrus maxima in adult Wistar albino rats of both sexes. Initially, ethanolic and aqueous leaf extracts were evaluated for its acute oral toxicity study conferring to the OECD guideline, 420 based on which, 200 mg/kg p.o and 400 mg/kg p.o doses extract were selected for the study. The anti-ulcer activity of leaves extracts was studied against ethanol-induced ulcer and water immersion stress-induced ulcer models. Sucralfate (250 mg/kg p.o) and Ranitidine (100 mg/kg p.o) were used as the standard drugs. Outcome measures were ulcer score, the percent inhibition of ulcer score, ulcer index, and percent inhibition of ulcer index. Data were analyzed using one-way ANOVA followed by Dunnett’s test, and P<0.05 was considered statistically significant. A significant (P<0.001) anti-ulcer activity was observed in all the models. Extracts treatment animals significantly (P<0.001) reduced the ulcer index as compared to the control group. Aqueous extracts (400 mg/kg p.o) showed prominent ulcer protection in water immersion stress-induced ulcers (68.29%) and in ethanol-induced ulcer models (66.76%) than in the ethanolic extracts. Phytochemical study prevails the existence of phenols, flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins, and terpenoids, which may attribute to the anti-ulcer activity of extracts. Consequently, this study confirms its anti-ulcer use in Indian folk medicine. Additional study on the isolation of specific phytochemicals and studying mechanisms of action are needed.

Published Date: 2021-03-01; Received Date: 2021-02-08