Protection of gastric mucosal damage by Coriandrum sativum L. pretreatment in Wistar albino rats

The effect of Coriander pretreatment on gastric mucosal injuries caused by NaCl, NaOH, ethanol, indomethacin and pylorus ligation accumulated gastric acid secretions was investigated in rats. Pretreatment at oral doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg, body weight was found to provide a dose-dependent protection against the (i) ulcerogenic effects of different necrotizing agents; (ii) ethanol-induced histopathological lesions; (iii) pylorus ligated accumulation of gastric acid secretions and ethanol related decrease of Nonprotein Sulfhydryl groups (NP-SH). Results obtained on the study of gastric mucus and indomethacin-induced ulcers demonstrated that the gastro protective activity of Coriander might not be mediated by gastric mucus and/or endogenous stimulation of prostaglandins. The protective effect against ethanol-induced damage of the gastric tissue might be related to the free-radical scavenging property of different antioxidant constituents (linanool, flavonoids, coumarins, catechins, terpenes and polyphenolic compounds) present in Coriander. The inhibition of ulcers might be due to the formation of a protective layer of either one or more than one of these compounds by hydrophobic interactions. © 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.