Research Article Effects of Aqueous and Methanolic Extracts of Stem Bark of Alstonia boonei De Wild. (Apocynaceae) on Dextran Sodium Sulfate-Induced Ulcerative Colitis in Wistar Rats Carine Flore Adjouzem, 1 Ateufack Gilbert , 1 Marius Mbiantcha , 1 William Yousseu Nana, 1 Vanessa Matah Marthe Mba, 1 Stephanie Flore Djuichou Nguemnang, 1 Eric Gonzal Tsafack, 1 and Albert Donatien Atsamo 2 1 Laboratory of Animal Physiology and Phytopharmacology, Department of Animal Biology, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, P.O. Box 67, Dschang, Cameroon 2 Laboratory of Animal Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Yaound´ e I, P.O. Box 812, Yaound´ e, Cameroon CorrespondenceshouldbeaddressedtoAteufackGilbert;ateufack2000@yahoo.fr Received 13 December 2019; Revised 4 March 2020; Accepted 15 May 2020; Published 30 May 2020 AcademicEditor:MariaCamillaBergonzi Copyright©2020CarineFloreAdjouzemetal.isisanopenaccessarticledistributedundertheCreativeCommonsAttribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Among the most exploited species in Cameroon, Alstonia boonei is widely used in African medicine for the relief of several pathologiesincludinggastrointestinaldisorders.isstudywasconductedinordertoassesstheeffectsofaqueousandmethanol stem-barkextractsof Alstonia boonei onDSS-(dextransodiumsulfate-)inducedintestinalcolitisandtodetermineitsantioxidant potential.eclassesofsecondarymetabolitespresentintheseextractsweredeterminedbychemicalscreening.eproductionof TNF-α, IL-6, IL-1β,andPGE2wasperformedby in vitro ELISA analysis. Anticolitis effects were determined using an in vivo modelofulcerativecolitisinducedbyDSS.ecolitiswasinducedwithadoubledoseofDSS(3%and1%),andtheaqueousand methanol extracts were administered orally from the 6 th day after commencement of induction. e phytochemical screening revealed the presence of six classes of secondary metabolites in these crude extracts: tannins, saponins, alkaloids, steroids, flavonoids,andphenols.Methanolandaqueousextractsof Alstonia boonei significantly(P < 0.001)inhibitedTNF-α,IL-6,IL-1β, andPGE2productionstimulatedbyLPS.Bothextractsatalldosessignificantlyreduced(P < 0.01, P < 0.001)thesignsofDSS- inducedcolitisintheWistarratsbydecreasinginflammationandchroniccolondamage.Inaddition,theextractssignificantly (P < 0.001) reduced malondialdehyde and nitric oxide levels in the colon and significantly (P < 0.01) increased superoxide dismutase and catalase and reduced glutathione (P < 0.05). Both extracts showed greater activity than the reference substance (prednisolone4mg/kg)usedinthisstudy.isstudyhasdemonstratedthataqueousandmethanolextractsof Alstonia boonei stem bark have healing properties against colitis experimentally induced by DSS in rats. 1. Introduction Ulcerative colitis (UC), which is essentially confined to the colon and rectum, is an inflammatory bowel disease that causes noncontrolled inflammation of the bowel with dis- ruption of the gastrointestinal tract [1–3]. In sufferers, this pathology is characterized by the appearance of symptoms such as diarrhea, weight loss, abdominal cramps, and mucousulcerscausingarecurrenceofbloodinthestool[4]. Genetic susceptibility, imbalance between the immune 1 systemandgutmicrobes,theenvironment,and/ormicrobes areimportantfactorsthatjustifyitspathogenicity[5–7].In addition,severalproinflammatorymediatorslikecytokines, eicosanoids, and ROS (reactive oxygen species) [8] play a majorroleinitsdevelopmentanditsevolution.According toLih-Brodyetal.[9],ulcerativecolitisisadiseaseusually Hindawi Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine Volume 2020, Article ID 4918453, 15 pages https://doi.org/10.1155/2020/4918453