Ethnopharmacological relevance: Geranii Herba, the traditional medicinal plants Korean and northeast China, has been used in the healing of a variety of gastrointestinal inflammation disorders. Geranium koreanum is a congeneric origin plant of Geranii Herba that can be used as medicinal plants with Geranium thunbergii, Geranium sibiricum, Geranium carolinianum, Geranium nepalense, and Geranium japonicam. However, research on the biological activity of Geranium koreanum is currently insufficient.
Aim of the study: Gastritis is typically characterized by inflammation and irritation, and it is commonly caused by factors such as stress, alcohol consumption, smoking, and the use of anti-inflammatory drugs. In particular, excessive ethanol ingestion is an important cause of gastric disease mediated by mucosal damage by inflammatory cells infiltration. In this study, we investigated whether Geranium koreanum, the well-known traditional medicinal plant, could have a protective effect on gastric mucosal damage in an HCl/EtOH-induced gastritis model by analyzing the inflammation response in gastric tissue.
Material and methods: The cytotoxicity and anti-inflammatory effects of Geranium koreanum were analyzed by determining cell viability and nitric oxide (NO) production, as well as the levels of nuclear factor (NF)-κB proteins in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cells. Additionally, we measured the damage ratio, conducted histopathological assay by H&E and PAS staining, and determined the levels of pro-inflammation mediator proteins in gastric tissue after induction of gastritis by HCl/EtOH administration in order to analyze the gastro-protective effects of Gerranium koreanum.
Results: The ulcer ratio and inflammatory cell infiltration in gastric mucosa were reduced by treatment with Geranium koreanum. Additionally, the expression of inflammatory mediators in gastric tissue was effectively decreased by extracts administrated at 200 mg/kg, as compared to the gastritis control.
Conclusions: We demonstrated that Geranium koreanum could have ameliorating effects against HCl/EtOH-induced gastritis through the anti-inflammatory response, which indicates the potential use of this plant as a natural preventive medicine for gastritis treatment.
Keywords: Anti-inflammation; Gastritis; Gastro-protection; Geranium koreanum; MAPK; NF-κB.
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