Gastroprotective effects of bitter principles isolated from Gentian root and Swertia herb on experimentally-induced gastric lesions in rats

Abstract

Gentianae Radix, the dried root and rhizoma of Gentiana lutea L. (Gentianaceae), has long been used as a remedy for liver and stomach inflammation, eye troubles, etc. In this paper, the gastroprotective effects of the methanol extract of Gentian root (GM) were studied using different gastric lesion models. In pylorus-ligated rats, administration of GM in the duodenum suppressed gastric juice secretion and total acid output in a dosedependent manner. Oral or duodenum administration of GM showed significant protection against acute gastric ulcer induced by aspirin plus pylorus ligation, waterimmersion restraint stress-induced ulcers, and gastric mucosal injury induced by ethanol. Furthermore, four secoiridoid glycosides, amarogentin (A1), gentiopicroside (A2), amaroswerin (A3), and swertiamarin (A4), were obtained from Gentian root or Swertia herb, and their protective effects against stress-induced ulcers and ethanol-induced gastric mucosal injury were evaluated. The doses required for 50% inhibition (ID 50 ) of A1, A3, and A4 on stress-induced ulcers were calculated to be 5.76, 2.58, and 167 mg/kg respectively. The protective effect of A2 at 250 mg/kg was 26.5%. On ethanol-induced gastritis, 5.0 mg/kg of A1 and A3 showed remarkable suppressive effects (33.7 and 45.4%, respectively), and 20 mg/kg of A4 exhibited a suppressive effect (30.8%). The effects of A1, A3, and A4 on ethanol-induced gastric lesions were canceled by 5.0 mg/ kg indomethacin pretreatment. These results suggest that the therapeutic effects of Gentian root on gastric lesions are associated with enhanced mucosal defensive factors via the prostaglandin pathway in the cell membrane, and that secoiridoid glycosides contribute to this activity.

Contribution of inorganic cations and organic compounds to osmotic adjustment in root cultures of two Centaurium species differing in tolerance to salt stress

“…Gentianaceae), yellow centaury and spiked centaury are rich sources of secoiridoid glucosides, among which the most important are swertiamarin, sweroside, and gentiopicrin (van der Sluis 1985). Generally, secoiridoids show a high degree of biological activity, such as fungitoxic, antibacterial, choleretic, anti-inflammatory, analgetic, antipyretic, pancreatic, gastroprotective and hepatoprotective (Berkan et al 1991;Kondo et al 1994;Kumarasamy et al 2003;Niiho et al 2006;Š iler et al 2010). Because of their bitterness, these compounds are also used in the preparation of some commercial beverages.…”

Chromatographic Evaluation and Characterization of Components of Gentian Root Extract Used as Food Additives

“…20) Since gentiopicroside (5) was detected as the main constituent and amarogentin could not be detected owing to its level being below the detection limit, gentiopicroside (5) was considered the primary contributor to the bitter taste of the gentian root. Previously, amarogentin was reported to be one of the main bitter components of gentian 2,6) ; however, its content decreases over the cultivation period. Amarogentin content in materials cultivated for more than 5 years was between 0.2-0.4 mg/g.…”

Pharmacognostic and Conservational Overview of Swertia chirata Buch.- Ham. ex Wall., A Critically Endangered Himalayan Herb

“…Another major phytoconstituent of this plant is swerchirin, a member of the xanthone family, which has been found to exhibit antimalarial and hypoglycaemic properties [23]. Further, other bio-active compounds such as amaroswerin, swertanone and chiratol are present in this plant that protect against gastro-intestinal [24] problems and shows anti-infl ammatory [25,26] properties as well.…”