Abstract

Swietenia mahagoni (West Indian mahogany) has been reported to have medicinal uses, such as treatment for hypertension, cancer, amoebiasis, chest pains and intestinal parasitism. The present study was performed to evaluate, the acute toxicity and anti-ulcer activity of S. mahagoni ethanol leaf extract against ethanol-induced gastric ulcer. 24 rats included in this study were divided into 4 groups with 6 rats each group. Group 1 rats (ulcer control group) were pre-treated with vehicle (Carboxyl methyl cellulose). Group 2 (reference group) was orally pretreated with 20 mg/kg omeprazole. Group 3 and 4 (experimental groups) were orally pre-treated with S. mahagoni ethanol leaf extract at 250 and 500 mg/kg doses, respectively. After one hour later, all groups received absolute ethanol to generate gastric mucosal injury. After an additional hour, all the rats were sacrificed and the ulcer areas of the gastric walls were determined. Grossly, the ulcer control group exhibited severe mucosal injury, whereas pre-treatment with either omeprazole or plant extract resulted in significantly protection of gastric mucosal injury and increase in mucus production. Flattening of gastric mucosal folds was also observed in rats pretreated with S. mahagoni leaf extract. Histological studies of the gastric wall of ulcer control group revealed severe damage of gastric mucosa, along with edema and leucocytes infiltration of the submucosal layer compared to rats received either omeprazole or S. mahagoni leaf extract where there was marked gastric protection along with reduction or absence of edema and leucocytes infiltration of the submucosal layer. Acute toxicity study with a higher dose of plant extract at 5 g/kg did not reveal any toxicological signs in rats. In conclusions, the present findings suggest that S. mahagoni ethanol leaf extract exhibit an anti-ulcer activity against ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in experimental animals.

Key words: Swietenia mahagoni leaf extract, gastric ulcer, histology.