Abstract
The aim of this study was to evaluate whether betaine ameliorates ethanol-induced gastric injury in rats. The morphological, histological and biochemical characteristics of gastric hemorrhagic lesions in ethanol-injured rats (n = 5/group) pretreated with betaine were analyzed and compared to non-treated controls. We compared the hemorrhagic dimensions using the Image J software, lipid peroxidation by malondialdehyde (MDA) concentration and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) immunoreactivity in the gastric mucosa among treatment groups. Oral administration of 250 mg/kg betaine significantly reduced gastric hemorrhage dimensions compared with the vehicle-treated control (p <0.05). Immunohistochemical analysis showed that the expression of iNOS and its byproduct nitrotyrosine were significantly reduced in betaine-pretreated rats compared to vehicle-treated rats with ethanol injury (p < 0.05). Lipid peroxidation was also significantly reduced in the ethanol-injured rats pretreated with betaine compared with the vehicle-treated ethanol-injured group (p <0.05). Collectively, these results suggest that pretreatment of betaine ameliorates ethanol-induced gastric mucosal injury, possibly through the inhibition of oxidative stress.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 237-243 |
| Number of pages | 7 |
| Journal | Oriental Pharmacy and Experimental Medicine |
| Volume | 14 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 2014 |
Keywords
- Betaine
- Ethanol
- Gastric injury
- Gastroprotection
- Rat