Abstract:
In one of the Ayurvedic treatise' Patoladi' decoction (PD) consisting of five
ingredients (Terminalia chebula Retz, Terminalia belerica Roxb, Phyllenthus
emblica Linn. Tricosenthes cucumarina Linn. Azadirachta indica A. Juss.)
is recommended for the treatment of' Amlapitta ' (dyspepsia/gastritis). This
indicates that PD may posses gastro protective action. The aim of this study
was to investigate this possibility in rats using ethanol-induced gastric
lesions. Different concentrations of freshly prepared PD was either orally
[30% (n=6), 15% (n=6), 7.5% (n=6) or 0% (n=6)] or IP [30% (n=6), 7.5%
(n=6) or 0% (n=6)] administered to fasted rats. 30 min later, 1ml of absolute
ethanol was either orally or IP administered to these rats and Ih later the
number and length of gastric linear haemorrhagic lesions were determined.
The results show that both treatments of PD markedly and significantly
impaired the number and the length of gastric lesions. The PD did not
significantly alter the volume, pH, free and total acidity and peptic activity
of the gastric content. But, it caused significant increase in carbohydrate
and mucus content of the gastric mucus layer. This may be the main
mechanism of action of PD. We conclude that PD has potent gastroprotective
action and may be therapeutically useful in the treatment of' Amlapitta' in
Ayurvedic Medicine in Sri Lanka.
