Action of crude aqueous extract of leaves of Achillea millefolium L. (Compositae) on gastrointestinal tract

Abstract

Achillea millefolium L. (Compositeae) is used in folk medicine to treat gastric disturbances. Doses of 125, 1500 and 2000 mg/kg protected rats against ulcers induced by ethanol and restraint-in-cold-stress, but not against indomethacininduced ulcers. Injected into the duodenal lumen the extract inhibited the basal acid secretion. Data from studies indicate that the antiulcer activity of A. millefolium must been related to a inhibition of gastric secretion or to a increase of protective factors in gastric mucosa as mucus, bicarbonate and blood flow. In conclusion, this extract effectively protected the gastric mucosa and inhibited gastric acid secretion. Further studies should also be provided for the stimulation of receptors in the parietal cell to elucidate the route whereby the extract produce this action.Achillea millefolium L. (Compositeae) popularly known as "pronto alívio", came from Europe and was introduced in the Americas, being common in Brazil's subtropical region 1 . It is used in folk medicine to treat gastric disorders (gastritis, ulcers), headache, fever and toothache. Phytochemistry studies were carried out with this species, describing the presence of essential oils, tanines, terpenes and mucilages 2 . This paper describes the antiulcerogenic activity of the crude aqueous extract of A. millefolium, L. (EABA) by using in vivo test models in rats and mice. For the elucidation of the activity mode, hypothermic restraint stress-, indomethacin-, ethanol-induced gastric lesions, pylorus ligature and intestinal motility model have been employed. : Rats deprived of solid food for 15 h but receiving water plus 5% glucose were treated (p.o.) with the water vehicle (0.5 ml/100 g), with ranitidine (60 mg/kg) and with the EABA at doses from 125 to 2000 mg/kg. Sixty min later, group 1 animals received 70% ethanol, group 2 animals received 20 mg/kg indomethacin (s.c.), and group 3 animals were anesthetized sufficiently with ether so that they could be immobilized in appropriate restraining boxes and maintained at a temperature of 4 o C. The animals were sacrificed 1 hour after treatment in group 1, 6 h after treatment in group 2, and 3 h after treatment in group 3. The stomachs were removed and the mucosa was washed and examined under a stereoscope for quantification of the lesions. 6,7,8 : Rats submitted to a 15 hour fast but with free access to water and glucose (5%) and anesthetized with ether were operated upon for pylorus ligature with sutures and the stomach was removed 4 h after suture of the abdominal wall. The mucosa was washed with 3 ml of water and the gastric content was placed in tubes for later centrifugation at 1500 g x 30 min in a refrigerated centrifuge. The volume of the gastric juice supernatant as determined and completed to 15 ml. Free acidity (pH) was determined with a pHmeter and total acidity by simple titration with 0.1 N NaOH using 2% phenolphthalein as acid-base indicator. Aliquots of 20 ml of the gastric content were incubated with 500 ml of albumin solution (5 mg/ml in 0.06...

Antiulcerogenic activity of hydroalcoholic extract of Achillea millefolium L.: Involvement of the antioxidant system

“…### P < 0.001 as compared with the Veh/Veh. injury (Baggio et al, 2002;Cavalcanti et al, 2006). Results obtained from this study reinforce the traditional use of Achillea millefolium in the treatment of gastrointestinal disorders, an effect seemingly related to the antioxidant protection and radical scavenging activity, which antagonizes oxidative stress-induced gastric damage.…”

“…Different preparations of Achillea millefolium have demonstrated anti-inflammatory, antitumor, antimicrobial, liver protective, and antioxidant properties (Goldberg et al, 1969;Tozyo et al, 1994;Gagdoli and Mishra, 1995;Tunon et al, 1995;Lin et al, 2002;Candan et al, 2003). In addition, our laboratory previously reported the potent gastric anti-secretory and gastroprotective activity of an aqueous extract of Achillea millefolium in models of acute (Baggio et al, 2002) and chronic gastric injury (Cavalcanti et al, 2006).…”

Yield and chemical composition of essential oil of Achillea millefolium L. as affected by harvest time

“…Nowadays, common yarrow is used in healing ointments applied to wounds [7] and in modern medicine for reducing ulcer size [8]. It also has antitumor [9], antioxidant [10], antimicrobial [3], antifungal [11], anti-mutagenic [12], liver protective [13], muscle relaxant [14], gastric anti-secretory and gastroprotective activities [15].…”

Therapeutic effects of hydro-alcoholic extract of Achillea wilhelmsii C. Koch on indomethacin-induced gastric ulcer in rats: a proteomic and metabolomic approach

“…It would in turn, increase gastric secretion and reduce the protective factors of the stomach. Furthermore, the authors of that study suggested that the hydroalcoholic extract of this species reduces the volume and acidity of the gastric juice via blockage of the main receptors presented in the parietal cell [16]. Recently, "omics" tools including proteomics and metabolomics along with bioinformatics analysis have expanded insights into comprehending the molecular mechanisms of diseases, biomarker discovery and understanding drug effects in disease treatment [17] which could, therefore, help to find mechanisms of new herbal drugs in gastrointestinal disorders.…”