RESEARCH ARTICLE Am. J. PharmTech Res. 2016; 6(5) ISSN: 2249-3387 Please cite this article as: Basak M et al., Phytochemical and antiulcer potential of ethanolic leaf extract of houttuynia cordta, thumb . American Journal of PharmTech Research 2016. Phytochemical and antiulcer potential of ethanolic leaf extract of houttuynia cordta, thumb. Mrinmoy Basak 1 *, Biplab Kr. Dey 1 1.Department of Pharmacy, Assam down town University, Pnikhaiti, Guwahati, Assam, Pin- 781026 ABSTRACT Gastric ulcer is one of the most prevalent gastrointestinal disorders, which affects approximately 5- 10% of people during their life. In recent years, abundant work has been carried out on herbal medicine to clarify their potential efficacy in gastric ulcer prevention or management. Here, present study was carried out to investigate antiulcer activity of ethanol extract of Houttuynia cordata Thumb. (Family: Saururaceae) leaves in aspirin plus pylorus ligated ulceration in the albino rats. Preliminary ethanol extract of H. cordata was subjected to the phytochemical study. Two dose levels i.e. 250 and 500 mg/kg were selected for the further study. In Aspirin plus pylorus ligation induced ulcer model, various parameters were studied viz. gastric volume, pH, total acidity, free acidity, and ulcer index. Ranitidine at 50 mg/kg was used as the standard drug. Pretreatment of ethanol extract of H. cordata leaves showed significant (P<0.001) decrease in the gastric volume, total acidity and free acidity. However, pH of the gastric juice was significantly (P<0.01) increased only at higher dose, 500 mg/kg. It showed also significant (P<0.001) decrease in number of ulcers and ulcer score index in aspirin plus pylorus ligation induced ulceration models. The ethanol extract of H. cordata leaves possess significant antiulcer properties in a dose dependent manner. In conclusion the antiulcer properties of the extract may be attributed to the presence of phytochemicals like flavonoids (quercetin), alkaloids and tannins present in the plant extract with various biological activities. Keywords: Antiulcer activity, Aspirin plus Pylorus ligation, Ulcer index, Phytochemical screening, Houttuynia cordata.Thumb, *Corresponding Author Email: mrinmoybsk@gmail.com Received 14 September 2016, Accepted 03 October 2016 Journal home page: http://www.ajptr.com/