Roles of sulfhydryl compounds in the gastric mucosal protection of the herb drugs composing oren-gedoku-to (a traditional herbal medicine).

We investigated the involvement of sulfhydryl compounds in the cytoprotective effect of each component herb drug composing Oren-gedoku-to (OGT) against ethanol-induced gastric lesions and potential difference (PD) reduction in comparison with that of OGT in rats. Pretreatment with N-ethylmaleimide (NEM) significantly blocked the cytoprotective effects of OGT, Coptidis rhizoma and Phellodendri cortex, but did not block the cytoprotective effects of Gardeniae fructus and Scutellariae radix. The inhibitory effects of OGT, Coptidis rhizoma and Phellodendri cortex against the PD reduction disappeared in the presence of NEM or diethyldithiocarbamate (DDC), whereas NEM or DDC had little or no effect with Gardeniae fructus and Scutellariae radix. These results suggest that the gastric mucosal protection of Coptidis rhizoma and Phellodendri cortex may be ascribed to the reinforcement of mucosal barrier resistance through endogenous sulfhydryl compounds and DDC-sensitive compounds, but those of Gardeniae fructus and Scutellariae radix may be independent of NEM- or DDC-sensitive compounds.