Protective effects of Acanthopanax senticosus Harms from Hokkaido and its components on gastric ulcer in restrained cold water stressed rats.

The aim of this study is to investigate the pharmacological effect of the stem bark of Acanthopanax senticosus Harms from Hokkaido (Japanese name: Ezoukogi) in place of the root bark as a restorative tonic on the stress-induced gastric ulcer. In the test, the extract of the stem bark of A. senticosus prepared with hot water was dissolved in water and used for the assay of the protective effect of gastric ulcer (erosion) on stressed rats that were restrained on cold water. The result from a single oral administration of the stem bark of A. senticosus-extract (50, 100 and 500 mg/kg, per day) dissolved in 1 ml distilled water did not show any protective effect on gastric ulcer, but the protective effect was observed in a dose-dependent manner from the oral administration of the extract (50, 100 and 500 mg/kg, per day) for 2 weeks. Pre-administration of the stem bark of A. senticosus-extract in a dose of 500 mg/kg showed the most potent inhibition without affecting either body or adrenal glands weights. Among ether, chloroform, n-butanol and aqueous residue extracts from the stem bark of A. senticosus-extract, the n-butanol extract used for oral administration for 2 weeks showed an obvious inhibition of 61.1% on gastric ulcer, compared with the control group which was treated with distilled water in the same way. Chlorogenic acid and syringaresinol di-o-beta-D-glucoside, as the major components of the n-butanol extract, showed a significantly inhibitory effect on gastric ulcer, at 21.4% and 51.3%, respectively. We suggested that the protective effect of the stem bark of A. senticosus on gastric ulcer may be partially due to those of chlorogenic acid and syringaresinol di-o-beta-D-glucoside.