Protective Role of Lycium Barbarum Polysaccharides and C‐Phycocyanin against Ethanol‐Induced Gastric Ulcer

Gastric ulcer is a major complication of gastrointestinal disease. This study investigated the gastroprotective effect of Lycium barbarum polysaccharids (LBPs) and C‐phycoyanin (C‐PC) on ethanol‐induced gastric ulcer in rats. Male Sprague‐Dawley rats were divided into 5 groups: normal, ulcer, ulcer treated with 100 mg/kg BW LBPs, ulcer treated with 50 mg/kg BW C‐PC, and ulcer treated with a mixture of 50 mg/kg BW LBPs and 25 mg/kg BW C‐PC. The treatments were given daily by gavage from week 1 to 5, and gastric ulcer was induced by 50% ethanol via gavage every other day from week 2 to 5. Ulcer area, serum hydroxyproline ‐ a potential biomarker for gastric ulcer, serum lipid peroxide ‐ malondialdehyde (MDA), gastric inflammatory markers ‐ interleukin‐1β (IL‐1β), myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, and intercellular adhesion molecule‐1 (ICAM‐1), and gastric cytoprotective factors ‐ prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and heat shock protein 70 (HSP70) were measured. The ulcer group had significantly increased ulcer area, serum MDA, gastric IL‐1β, MPO activity, and ICAM‐1, but decreased serum hydroxyproline and gastric PGE2 levels. Pretreatment with LBPs or C‐PC significantly attenuated the severity of ethanol‐induced gastric mucosal damage, decreased serum MDA, gastric IL‐1β, MPO activity, and ICAM‐1, and increased serum hydroxyproline and gastric HSP70 levels. Pretreatment with a mixture of LBPs and C‐PC had similar effects with pretreatment with LBPs or C‐PC, however, a mixture of LBPs and C‐PC significantly decreased gastric ICAM‐1 levels compared with the ulcer and LBPs‐treated groups, but did not change serum hydroxyproline, gastric MPO activity, and PGE2 levels. Therefore, LBPs and/or C‐PC exert gastroprotective effects on ethanol‐induced gastric ulcer through suppression of lipid peroxidation and gastric inflammation and improvement of cytoprotective mechanisms.Support or Funding InformationThe study is supported by the Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan (grant no. MOST105‐2320‐B‐038‐036‐MY3).This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2019 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.