Anti-ulcerogenic effect of Momordica charantia L. fruits on various ulcer models in rats

The mature fruits of Momordica charantia L. (Cucurbitaceae) are used extern ally for the rapid healing of wounds and internally for the treatment of pe ptic ulcers in Turkish folk medicine. For the evaluation of the latter acti vity, ethanol-induced ulcerogenesis model in rats was employed. The olive o il extract of the material as well as dried-powdered fruits in filtered hon ey showed significant and dose-dependent anti-ulcerogenic activity against this model. A potent and dose-dependent inhibitory activity was also observ ed by the administration of ethanol extract of the fruits. For the bioassay -guided fractionation, the material was first extracted with hexane and the n by ethanol and both extracts were found active against the same ulcer mod el. Furthermore, ethanol extract of the fruits showed significant activity against HCl-EtOH induced ulcerogenesis in indomethacin-pretreated rats and diethyldithiocarbamate-induced ulcer models. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science Irel and Ltd. All rights reserved.