Does the African garden egg offer protection against experimentally induced ulcers?

OBJECTIVE To evaluate the possible antiulcer effect of the African garden egg, Solanum aethiopicum (S. aethiopicum) (a domestic vegetable) experimentally in rats. METHODS A methanol extract of the plant fruit was prepared by maceration. Twenty five overnight fasted rats for each model were divided randomly into five groups of five rats. Groups 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 received normal saline, extract dose levels of 100, 200 and 400 mg/kg and 100 mg/kg of ranitidine respectively. All administrations were given orally. For the indomethacin and aspirin models, ulcerogenic agents (indomethacin, 50 mg/kg and aspirin 200 mg/kg) were given thirty minutes after extract treatments and animals sacrificed 8 h later. The acidified ethanol model (ethanol 60% + 0.1 mol/L HCl) was given 1 hr after extract treatment and animals sacrificed 1 h later. Ulcer index was checked and analysed with appropriate statistical tools. RESULTS Extract of S. aethiopicum showed positive effect on all the models used. It produced higher ulcer inhibition than ranitidine in the indomethacin and acid-ethanol models. All the anti-ulcer effects of the extract at different doses were dose dependent but only in indomethacin model did it produce statistically significant (P<0.05) ulcer reduction in all doses compared to control. CONCLUSIONS Garden egg, a readily cultivated crop vegetable possesses ulcer protective properties against ulcers induced experimentally making it a cheap source of natural anti-ulcer remedy.