Artesunate markedly ameliorated aspirin induced gastric injury in rats by targeting oxidative stress and COX-2 dependent as well as COX-2 independent proinflammatory signaling pathways and could have a therapeutic potential in gastric ulcer disease.
Anti‐inflammatory drugs are well known to reduce the risk of colon cancer and prophylactic use of such agents is gaining acceptance as a cancer prevention therapy. As artesunate, an antimalarial drug, has been shown to exhibit chemopreventive properties, the present study was carried out to evaluate its inhibitory effect on oxidative stress and inflammation in a rat model of colon carcinogenesis. A chemical carcinogen, 1,2‐dimethylhydrazine was injected twice at an interval of 1 week to induce preneoplastic lesions in the colon and the parameters indicating oxidative stress and inflammation were evaluated after 8 weeks. Artesunate (50 and 150 mg/kg) and aspirin (60 mg/kg) were administered orally throughout the study. Analysis of colon tissue revealed that both the drugs preserved histoarchitecture, inhibited cellular influx, decreased the levels of oxidative stress and inflammatory markers, downregulated cyclooxygenase‐2, inducible nitric oxide synthase, nuclear factor κB, and interleukin 1β in comparison to the experimental control. Suppression of oxidative stress and pro‐inflammatory signaling by both the drugs were found to contribute to inhibition of colon carcinogenesis. The protection afforded by these drugs was found to be comparable. Our study shows that like aspirin, use of artesunate could also reduce the risk of colon cancer and it has a potential for further evaluation for the treatment purpose.
Our study demonstrates that roxithromycin ameliorates experimental colitis by maintaining redox homeostasis, preserving mucosal integrity and downregulating NFκB-mediated pro-inflammatory signaling and suggests that it has a therapeutic potential in inflammatory conditions of the colon.
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