In Vivo Study of Healing Effects of Sida acuta Leaf Extracts on Helicobacter pylori Induced Ulceration in Mice

Abstract

Helicobacter pylori is a human pathogen that is widely distributed and known to cause peptic ulcer, gastritis and gastric cancer. Treatment is usually by combination of acid inhibitory therapy and antibiotics because of drug resistance problems. Studies now focus on the use of medicinal plants for treatment of H. pylori induced ulcers because they are inexpensive and have limited side effects. This study was undertaken to determine the effects of cold water and ethanol extracts of Sida acuta leaves on H. pylori induced ulcer in mice. Oral administration with the aid of a feeding tube of 0.5 ml of 107 CFU/ml of H. pylori (Accession number LT799736) in phosphate buffer saline (pH 6.8) was used to induce ulcer in mice. Effects of various concentrations of cold water and ethanol extracts of S. acuta leaves on the ulcer parameters and histology examinations of stomach tissues of mice were investigated after 2 weeks of administration of extracts into the mice. Mice treated with clarithromycin served as positive control while mice administered with H. pylori but not treated served as negative control. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used for data analysis and results were considered significant if p < 0.05. Bacterial load of stomach tissue showed significant reduction from 15.4 × 106 CFU/ml to 3.5 × 106 CFU/ml and 2.6 × 106 CFU/ml for cold water and ethanol extracts respectively. Reduction in ulcer severity (2.00 ± 0.10 to 0.080 ± 0.05), ulcer index (8.50 ± 1.10 to 4.26 ± 0.03) and gastric volume (1.32 ± 0.12 to 0.54 ± 0.13) were observed. Histology of stomach tissues of mice treated with extracts revealed clear granulation indicating tissue repair and wound healing. S. acuta extracts were observed to enhance ulcer healing in a mice model.