RESUMO
A non-pharmacopoeial Unani compound formulation containing 5 ingredients was studied in experimental animals for its effect against aspirin and ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in two separate tests. In the first test, the animals were divided into 3 groups and treated with distilled water [3ml], test drug [3.12g/kg] and ranitidine [50 mg/kg], respectively. After 30 min of treatment, all the animals were administered with aspirin in the dose of 200 mg/kg. Animals were treated in this way daily once for 4 days and sacrificed after 4 hours of last dosing. The stomach was dissected out and the ulcer was observed with the help of magnifying glass and the degree of ulcer was determined. In the second test, the animals were treated in same way as described earlier except that they were treated with distilled water, test drug and ranitidine once only. After one hour of the treatment, they were administered with 1 ml of 80% ethanol. Later on, after 4 hours of ethanol treatment all the animals were sacrificed and observed for ulcer as in previous test. The ulcer index was calculated by dividing the multiplied sum of average degree of ulceration [ADU] with% of rats with ulceration [RU], by 100. The results were compared with plain as well as standard control. The test drug was found to produce significant anti-ulcer effect, as it substantially reduced the level of ulcer index as compared to the control group and it was almost equally effective to that of ranitidine