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ANTI-ULCER ACTION OF SHANKHA BHASMA

Indian Journal of Pharmacology 2000; 32: 378-380 SHORT COMMUNICATION

Correspondence: T.K. Sur

e-mail: impuffer@cal2.vsnl.net.in

ANTI-ULCER EFFECT OF SHANKHA BHASMA IN RATS : A PRELIMINARY STUDY

S. PANDIT, T.K. SUR, U. JANA, D. BHATTACHARYYA, P. K. DEBNATH*

Department of Pharmacology, University College of Medicine, 244B, Acharya J.C. Bose Road,Calcutta-700 020. * J. B. Roy State Ayurvedic Medical College & Hospital, 170-172 Raja Dinendra

Street, Calcutta-700 004.

Manuscript Received: 28.3.2000 Revised: 9.5.2000 Accepted: 23.6.2000

Objective:To investigate the anti-peptic ulcer effect of Shankha bhasma(conch shell ash) in rats.

Methods:Gastric ulcers were induced in rats by indomethacin and cold restraint stress, and the effect oftwo different doses of Shankha bhasmawas studied. The response of the bhasma on ulcer index, lipid

peroxidation (thiobarbituric acid reacting substances TBARS) in gastric tissue and serum calcium wasdetermined.

Results:Shankha bhasmacaused significant reduction in ulcer index (P

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Table 1. Effect of Shankhabhasma on ulcer index, serum calcium and tissue TBARS in rats.

Treatment Ulcer index Serum calcium TBARS

Indomethacin Cold restraint (mg/dl) (nmol/mg protein)

Control 31.5 + 0.76 28.7 + 1.52 9.95 + 0.22 14.65 + 0.52

Shankha Bhasma(25 mg/kg) 14.6 + 1.08* 16.9 + 2.04* 10.76 + 0.48ns 10.01 + 0.43*

Shankha Bhasma(50 mg/kg) 10.1 + 0.57* 12.6 + 1.36* 10.93 + 0.83 ns 8.76 + 0.71*

Values are mean + SEM of 6 animals in each group* P< 0.001 when compared to control; ns = statistically not significant.

Ulcer Index = (number of lesion I) + (number of le-sion II) x 2 + (number of lesion III) x 3

Cold restraint stress induced ulcers: Shankhabhasma(25, 50 mg/kg) were introduced for 7 days.On the day 7, the overnight fasted rats were re-strained in a metallic restraint chamber 30 min afterthe administration of test drug and kept for 2 h in arefrigerator at 4-6oC. After the period of immobiliza-tion, the rats were sacrificed by cervical dislocationand the stomachs were removed for ulcer scoring7.

Biochemical estimations: Serum calcium8 and gas-tric tissue lipid peroxidation were estimated in rats

that developed ulcers due to indomethacin. The stom-ach homogenates were prepared in chilled 0.15 MKCl and lipid peroxidation (thiobarbituric acid react-ing substances or TBARS) was determined9. Pro-tein estimations of tissue homogenates were madeaccording to Lowry et al10.

Statistical analysis: Results were analyzed usingStudents ' t' test. P values less than 0.05 were con-sidered significant.

RESULTS

Shankha bhasmashowed dose dependent reduc-tion of ulcer index in indomethacin treated rats aswell as in rats subjected to cold restraint stress, whencompared to control (Table 1). It showed reduction inTBARS content of stomach tissue in indomethacintreated ulcer group (Table 1). No significant differ-ence was noted in serum calcium activity betweenthe groups (Table 1).

DISCUSSION

It is generally accepted that gastric ulcer results froman imbalance between aggressive factors and themaintenance of the mucosal integrity through theendogenous defense mechanism11. Several studieshave indicated that gastroduodenal protection byprostaglandins (PG) include both increase in mucosalresistance as well as decrease in aggressive fac-tors, mainly acid and pepsin12. Inhibition of PG syn-thesis by indomethacin coincides with the earlierstages of damage to the cell membranes of mucosal,parietal and endothelial cells13. Similarly, cold restraintstress induced ulcer represents an unique ulcer

model in examining the cause, course, consequenceand treatment of peptic ulcer14. In this study, we ob-served dose dependent protection offered byShankha bhasmain indomethacin and cold restraintstress induced gastric ulcers. There is extensive ex-perimental evidence that indicates certain sub-stances, through scavenging of free radicals, pro-tect the gastric mucosa15. The thiobarbituric acid re-active substance (TBARS) is used as an indicator oflipid peroxidation and free radical activity in biologi-cal samples2,9. In the present study, Shankha bhasmaexhibits a potent anti-peroxidative effect without al-tering serum calcium level.

Hence, it can be suggested from our study thatShankha bhasmaprovides anti-ulcer activity in rats.It may act as gastric cytoprotective agent by modu-lating scavenging of free radicals. Further studieslike, acids and mucopolysaccharides estimations bypyloric ligated models are required to establish therole of Shankha bhasmain protection against gas-troduodenal ulcer.

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