ABSTRACT
This study was aimed to clarify the mechanism of gastroprotection by Vanillosmopsis arborea Baker essential oil (EOVA) using ethanol-induced gastric mucosal damage in mice. Gastric lesions were significantly reduced by EOVA (200 and 400 mg/kg). Chemical analysis showed that the major compound of EOVA was alpha-bisabolol. Pretreatment of mice with yohimbine, the alpha2-antagonist, greatly suppressed the gastroprotective effect of OEVA. Furthermore, OEVA gastroprotection was not attenuated in mice pretreated with indomethacin, L-NAME or glibenclamide, the respective inhibitors of cyclooxygenase, nitric oxide synthase and K(+)(ATP) channel activation. These data suggest that OEVA affords gastroprotection most possibly by alpha2-receptor activation.