ROLE OF PROSTAGLANDINS IN GASTROPROTECTIVE ACTIVITY OF Artemisia douglasiana

VILLEGAS GABUTTI CARLOS; PERALTA CECILIA; MARÍA ALEJANDRA; PELZER LILIAN

Villa de Merlo (San Luis)

Congreso; XXII Reunión Anual de la Sociedad de Biología de Cuyo; 2004

Artemisia douglasiana Besser, commonly known as matico, is used in folk medicine as a cytoprotective agent against peptic ulcer. This work evaluated the role of prostaglandins (PG) in the gastroprotection induced by A. douglasiana. Additionaly, we investigated the gastroprotective activity of A. douglasiana on chronic ulcers. Induction of chronic gastric lesions was performed according to the methods of Takagi et al. (1969) and Albelda et al. (1973) employing acetic acid as ulcerogenic agent. A solution of acetic acid was injected below the gastric serosa of the rats. Previously, the animals were administered orally with A. douglasiana 10% infusion during 3 days. On the 7th day after acetic acid injection, animals were killed. The ulceration grade was determined by area (mm2). Administration of A. douglasiana decreased the ulceration size (Students t-test:p<0.001 vs. control). The experiment for the PG study was performed according to the method of Robert et al. (1979). Absolute ethanol was employed as the necrotizing agent. Indomethacin was given as PG synthesis inhibitor (10mg/kg, sc). Indomethacin pretreatment resulted in a significant reduction of the cytoprotective action of A. douglasiana (ANOVA and Tukey-Kramer post-test; p<0.001). These results support participation of endogenous PG in A. douglasiana protection against ethanol damage.