Gastroprotective effect of aucubin against ethanol-induced gastric mucosal injury in mice.
AIMS
Aucubin, an iridoid glycoside, was isolated from seeds of Eucommia ulmoides Oliver. This study was aimed to evaluate the protective effect of aucubin against ethanol-induced gastric mucosal injury in mice.


MATERIALS AND METHODS
Mice were orally administrated with aucubin (20, 40 and 80mg/kg) for 3 consecutive days. On the 3rd day, the mice of gastric mucosal injury were induced with 70% ethanol after the last administration of aucubin. Gastric tissue of mice were submitted for evaluating the severity of gastric mucosal injury. The protective effect of aucubin was evaluated by the gastric ulcer index and histological examinations and determining the levels of inflammatory cytokines, oxidative stress and some gastric mucosal protection factors.


KEY FINDINGS
Prophylactic oral administration of aucubin decreased gastric ulcer indexes and histological scores. A significant decrease of myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity and the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and interleukin-6 (IL-6) were observed in aucubin administrated groups. In addition, mice administrated with aucubin increased glutathione (GSH) and heat shock protein-70 (HSP-70) levels and superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity, as well as normalized the levels of epidermal growth factor (EGF), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and cyclooxygenase-1 (COX-1) in gastric tissue of mice.


SIGNIFICANCE
The findings of this study demonstrated that aucubin shows protective effect against ethanol-induced acute gastric mucosal injury through its anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant effects. Furthermore, aucubin enhanced gastric mucosal protection by up-regulation of HSP-70 level and normalization of EGF, VEGF and COX-1 levels.
['Yang|Yang|Y|', 'Yin|Bing|B|', 'Lv|Le|L|', 'Wang|Ziye|Z|', 'He|Jiao|J|', 'Chen|Ziyang|Z|', 'Wen|Xin|X|', 'Zhang|Yongmin|Y|', 'Sun|Wenji|W|', 'Li|Yang|Y|', 'Zhao|Ye|Y|']
D000818:Animals D000893:Anti-Inflammatory Agents D000975:Antioxidants D016207:Cytokines D004195:Disease Models, Animal D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug D000431:Ethanol D031283:Eucommiaceae D005753:Gastric Mucosa D005978:Glutathione D018840:HSP70 Heat-Shock Proteins D015850:Interleukin-6 D057888:Iridoid Glucosides D008297:Male D008315:Malondialdehyde D051379:Mice D018384:Oxidative Stress D009195:Peroxidase D012639:Seeds D013276:Stomach Ulcer D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha D015854:Up-Regulation
Aucubin Gastric mucosal injury Ethanol Anti-inflammatory Anti-oxidant