Authors : Salaudeen Aminat Tope, Oluwole Francis Sunday and Adedeji Temitope Gabriel
Abstract: The aim of the present study was to investigate the possible effects of garlic juice as well as feed supplemented with Allium sativum, on gastric ulceration, antioxidant activity and gastric mucus cell count in wistar rats. The animals used were divided into six groups and treated for 30 days. A low dose (250 mg kg-1 body weight) and high dose (500 mg kg-1) of garlic juice was orally administered to two of the experimental groups while two other groups were fed with 5 and 10% Allium sativum/standard feed mix. The control group was fed on the standard rats’ feed and water only while a positive control group was given Misoprostol (10 mg kg-1) orally as a standard drug. The result showed that pre-treatment with garlic was significantly effective in reducing gastric ulceration incidence in animals (p<0.05) as mean ulcer score decreased significantly in all groups treated with garlic. Superoxide Dismutase (SOD) and Catalase (CAT) increased significantly, especially in animals in the high dose group. Malonyldialdehyde (MDA) concentration however decreased mainly in both the group given a high dose of garlic juice (500 mg kg-1) and the group fed with 10% supplemented Allium sativum feed while gastric mucus cell count was also significantly increased in most treatment groups. These results suggest that garlic decreases ulcerogenesis in experimental animals. This can be attributed to its effects of increasing antioxidant activity and gastric mucous cell count.
Salaudeen Aminat Tope, Oluwole Francis Sunday and Adedeji Temitope Gabriel, 2013. Mechanisms of Antiulcerogenic Effect of Garlic (Allium sativum) in Albino Rats. International Journal of Tropical Medicine, 8: 119-123.