Homeopathy & Ayurvedic Medicine Galani et al., J Homeop Ayurv Med 2011, 1:1 DOI: 10.4172/2167-1206.1000105 Volume 1 • Issue 1 • 1000105 J Homeop Ayurv Med, an open access journal ISSN: 2167-1206 Open Access Research Article Antiulcer Activity of Patol Churna against Experimental Gastro-duodenal Ulcers in Rats Varsha J Galani 1 *, Sunita S Goswami 2 and Mamta B Shah 2 1 Department of Pharmacology, A.R. College of Pharmacy, Vallabh Vidyanagar-388120, Gujarat, India 2 Department of Pharmacology, L.M. College of Pharmacy, Navrangpura, Ahmedabad-380009, India Abstract Patol churna is a well known ayurvedic formulation of Trichosanthes cucumerina Linn. (cucurbitaceae) administered in case of number of alimentary and liver disorders. It is widely used in Indian folk medicine for variety of disease conditions. The aim of present study was to evaluate the antiulcer activity of 50% ethanolic extract of patol churna (PCE) using various experimental models of gastric and duodenal ulceration in rats. Oral administration of 50% ethanolic extract of patol churna was evaluated in rats against ethanol, aspirin and pylorus ligated gastric ulcers as well as cysteamine-induced duodenal ulcers. In all the models studied, the antiulcer activity of PCE compared with that of cimetidine (100mg/kg, p.o.), an H 2 receptor antagonist. PCE showed significant antiulcer activity in ethanol-induced and aspirin-induced gastric ulcer models. In 19 hrs pylorus ligated rats, significant reduction in ulcer index, total acidity and pepsin activity was observed with PCE, when compared with the control group. Mucosal defensive factors such as pH, mucin activity and gastric wall mucous content was found to be increased with PCE. PCE was also, afforded remarkable protection in cysteamine-induced duodenal lesions. The antiulcer activity of PCE was comparable with that of cimetidine. Thus, patol churna extract possess significant antiulcer activity against both gastric and duodenal ulcers in rats. The antiulcer activity may be attributed to its cytoprotective action and inhibition of acid secretary parameters. *Corresponding author: Varsha J Galani, Department of Pharmacology, A.R College of Pharmacy, Vallabh Vidyanagar-388120, Gujarat, India, Fax: 02692- 230788; E-mail: vrp173@yahoo.com Received December 27, 2011; Accepted December 30, 2011; Published January 13, 2012 Citation: Galani VJ, Goswami SS, Shah MB (2011) Antiulcer Activity of Patol Churna against Experimental Gastro-duodenal Ulcers in Rats. J Homeop Ayurv Med 1:105. doi:10.4172/2167-1206.1000105 Copyright: © 2011 Galani VJ, et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. Keywords: Antiulcer activity; Duodenal ulcer; Gastric ulcer; Trichosanthes cucumerina Linn; Patol churna Introduction Trichosanthes cucumerina Linn. (cucurbitaceae) is an annual climber and widely distributed throughout India, Ceylon, Malaya and North Australia. In Gujarat, the plant is known as ‘Patola’ or ‘Kadvi Parval’. Patol churna is a well known ayurvedic formulation of T. cucumerina administered in case of number of alimentary and liver disorders. Whole plant is reputed for the treatment of hepatic and alimentary canal disorders. Fruits of Trichosanthes cucumerina are used as laxative, purgative, antipyretic, alexiteric and antiulcer agent. e leaves are good for bilious disorders [1]. Antidiabetic [2], hepatoprotective [3], anti-inflammatory [4], antifertility [5], antioxidant [6], antibacterial [7], antifungal [8] and antiviral [9] activities of the plant were reported. e fruits contain ascorbic acid, lycopene, phenols, flavonoids, alkaloids, tannins and saponins [6,10]. Present study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of 50% ethanolic extract of patol churna (PCE) in various experimental ulcer models.  Materials and Methods  Plant material and extraction Patol churna, a readymade formulation powder was procured from the local market of Ahmedabad, India and authentication was done in the department of Pharmacognosy, L. M. College of Pharmacy, Ahmedabad. It was found to be a mixture of all the aerial parts of Trichosanthes cucumerina. e powder was extracted exhaustively with 50% ethanol by maceration at room temperature for 2 days with occasional shaking. e crude extract was dried at 40°C under vacuum (Yield – 11% w/w of dried powder). e pharmacological assays were arried out with aqueous solution of dried extract (PCE). e doses were expressed as mg of dried extract per kg of rat. Drugs and chemicals  Cimetidine (Cadila, Ahmedabad) was used as reference standard. Aspirin (Cadila, Ahmedabad) and Cysteamine (Merck, Germany) were used for experimental induction of gastric and duodenal ulcers respectively. Animals  Wister rats (200-250g) of either sex bred in Central Animal House facility of the institute were used. e animals were housed under standard conditions, maintained on a 12 hrs light/dark cycle and had free access to food and water up to the time of experimentation. e animals were acclimatized to the laboratory environment 1 hr before the experiments. Animals were randomly distributed into groups of 10 animals each. All experiments were conducted during the light period (08.00-16.00 hrs). All the protocols were approved by the Institutional Animal Ethical Committee (IAEC) and conducted according to the guidelines of CPCSEA (Committee for the Purpose of Control and Supervision of Experiment on Animals). Treatment Freshly prepared aqueous solution of dried extract of patol churna (PCE) in suitable dilution was administered orally in the test animals. For the ethanol induced ulcer model, animals were divided in to five groups, each group consisting of six animals. Group 1 served as control group received distilled water (vehicle) 1 ml/kg, p.o., group 2-4 served as test groups received PCE (300, 500 and 800mg/kg, p.o.) and group