RESUMO
Unani system of medicine is gaining popularity day by day owing to its efficiency, low cost, availability and to the safety of its formulations and drugs/medicines. The current study was aimed to determine the safety of a polyherbal Unani formulation named Deedan. A suspension of powdered Deedan at the dose of 300mg/kg of b. wt was orally administered to the male and female group of rats (n=5) for 90 days daily and then sacrificed. The biochemical and hematological parameters of treated rats were compared with respective control group of rats. Various vital organs/tissues were collected, examined, weighed and tissue samples were taken for histopathological studies of both the treated and control groups. Physiological parameters like water and feed consumption were also observed in all the groups. The treated rats (both males and females) were found to gain bodyweight normally. There was no effect of the drug on biochemical and hematological parameters as the changes were statistically insignificant. The histopathological studies revealed the normal appearance of tissues. The feed and water consumption in treated group of rats was found to be unaffected by the drug administration. The drug deedan was found to be safe at the dose of 300 mg/kg of body weight when administered orally to the rats for 90 days.
RESUMO
The aqueous and ethanol extracts of the leaves of Basella alba L. var. alba Wight, Basellaceae, were investigated for antiulcer activity on rats employing the pylorus ligation and ethanol induced ulcer models. The various gastric secretion parameters such as total acidity, free acidity, gastric acid volume, pH and histopathological parameters such as ulcer index and percent protection were comparatively examined between control, test and standard groups. The antiulcer activity of aqueous extract of B. alba (AEBA) and ethanol extract of B. alba (EEBA) were studied in rats treated with the doses of 1 mL/kg of absolute ethanol, 200 and 400 mg of test extracts and 20 mg/kg of famotidine for control, test and standard groups respectively in both the models. The animals pretreated with AEBA and EEBA showed a dose-dependent protection against gross damaging action of ethanol and pylorus ligation on gastric mucosa of animals. Histopathological evaluation also revealed that Group I treated with absolute ethanol showed severe gastric mucosal damage. The AEBA and EEBA showed 68.25 and 58.11% protection in gastric mucosal damage as compared to control group. Both the extracts of B. alba var. alba were able to decrease the gastric acidity and increase the mucosal defense in the gastric mucosal area. This study indicate that B. alba var. alba possesses significant gastroprotective effect and the same is substantiated by the histopathological examination of the ulcerated stomachs of the animals.