Mousa A.M.El-Sammad N.M.Hassan S.K.Madboli A.E.N.A.Hashim A.N.Moustafa E.S.Bakry S.M.Elsayed E.A.Department of BiochemistryNational Research CentreDokkiCairoEgypt; Department of Animal Reproduction and Artificial Insemination ResearchNational Research CentreDokkiCairoEgypt; Department of Phytochemistry and Plant SystematicsNational Research CentreDokkiCairoEgypt; October University of Modern Sciences and Arts6th October CityEgypt; Bioproducts Research DepartmentZoology DepartmentKing Saud UniversityRiyadhSaudi Arabia; Department of Chemistry of Natural and Microbial ProductsNational Research CentreDokkiCairoEgypt2020-01-092020-01-09201914726882https://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-019-2760-9PubMedIDhttps://t.ly/pyy5rScopusBackground: Cuphea ignea is one of the herbal resources belonging to Lythraceae family. Some species of this family have been used traditionally in South and Central America's folk medicine for treating stomach disorders. Therefore, the present study was performed to evaluate the gastropreventive effect of aqueous ethanolic extract of C. ignea aerial parts on ethanol-induced gastric ulcer. Methods: Gastric ulcers were induced in Sprague Dawley rats using one oral dose of absolute ethanol (1.5 mL/rat). The C. ignea aerial parts extract at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg body weight and ranitidine (a reference drug) at a dose of 30 mg/kg body weight were orally administrated daily for 7 days before ulcer induction. One hour after ethanol administration blood samples were collected and then stomachs of sacrificed rats were subjected to biochemical, macroscopic and microscopic studies. Results: Oral administration of C. ignea extract significantly attenuated gastric ulcer as revealed by significant reduction in the gastric ulcer index and volume of gastric juice while significantly increased preventive percentage, gastric pH value and pepsin activity. Pre-Treatment of C. ignea extract markedly improved the serum level of TNF-?, the gastric MPO activity and NO content. Furthermore, C. ignea pre-Treatment significantly increased the gastric levels of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants namely CAT, SOD, GSH-Px, and GSH with concomitant reduction in MDA level compared with those in the ethanol group. These results were further supported by histopathological findings which revealed the curing effect of C. ignea on the hemorrhagic shock induced by ethanol toxicity. Conclusions: C. ignea extract showed a potential gastroprotective effect on ethanol-induced gastric ulcer, and its effect may be mediated through suppression of oxidative stress and gastric inflammation. � 2019 The Author(s).EnglishAntioxidantsCuphea igneaGastric ulcerHistopathologyOxidative stressPhenolic compoundsalcoholantiulcer agentcatalaseCuphea ignea extractglutathioneglutathione peroxidasemalonaldehydemyeloperoxidasenitric oxidepepsin Aplant extractranitidinesuperoxide dismutasetumor necrosis factorunclassified drugadultaerial plant partanimal experimentanimal modelanimal tissueantiulcer activityaqueous solutionArticleblood samplingbody weightcontrolled studyCupheaCuphea igneaenzyme activityethanol-induced gastric ulcerhemorrhagic shockhistopathologymalenonhumanprotein blood levelratSprague Dawley ratstomach juicestomach pHstomach protectionstomach ulcertreatment durationArticlehttps://doi.org/10.1186/s12906-019-2760-9PubMedID