Document Type : Original Article
Authors
1
Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University
2
Department of Clinical Pathology Faculty of Medicine, Tanta University
Abstract
Aim: The present work aimed to compare between the gastroprotective efficacy of L-carnitine and omeprazole in ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in male albino Wister rats. Methods: This study was carried out on 40 male albino Wister rats were divided into four equal groups: Normal group: Received distilled water, ulcer-control group: Administered with a single dose of 1ml absolute ethanol for gastric ulcer induction, omeprazole-group: Received omeprazole (20mg/kg subcutaneously daily), L-carnitine group: Received L-carnitine (50mg/kg) intragastrically. At the end of experiment, ulcer index and preventive index were assayed. Gastric homogenate was collected for determination of total antioxidant capacity (TAC), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) activities, nitric oxide (NO), acidic mucopolysaccarides, prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. Gastric juice was collected for determination of titratable acidity, peptic activity and DNA fragmentation. Results: The ethanol-induced gastric damage significantly increased ulcer index, MPO activity, titratable acidity, peptic activity and DNA fragmentation of gastric juice, with significant decrease in TAC, SOD activity, NO, acidic mucopolysaccarides and PGE2 in gastric mucosa, with no effect on CAT activity compared to normal group. Pretreatment with either omeprazole or L-carnitine significantly decreased ulcer index, gastric MPO activity, titratable acidity, peptic activity and DNA fragmentation compared to ulcer-control group. Also, both omeprazole and L-carnitine significantly increased gastric TAC and SOD activity with insignificant effect on CAT compared to ulcer control group. But L-carnitine, not omeprazole, significantly increased NO, acidic mucopolysaccarides and PGE2 compared to ulcer control. Conclusions: We conclude that L-carnitine is more effective in healing the gastric ulcer than omeprazole. Further broad spectrum studies as well as clinical trials should be conducted before the use of L-carnitine as routine medicine
Keywords
Main Subjects
)
View on SCiNiTO