Anti - Ulcer Activity of Ficus Religiosa L . Leaves

Ficus religiosa is being used in Ayurvedic and Malay traditional medicine for the treatment of various diseases including gastric ulcer. Considering the above claims, the present work was undertaken to validate the anti-ulcer potential of the ethanol extract of leaves of Ficus religiosa against in vivo aspirin induced ulcer and pylorus ligation assays. Gastric ulcers induced in Swiss albino rats by oral administration of aspirin suspension and ligate the pylorus part of stomach. The antiulcer activity was examined by determining and comparing the ulcer index in the test drug groups with that of the vehicle control and standards. Therefore all models showed significant anti-ulcer property in a dose dependent manner. The parameters taken to assess antiulcer activity were volume of gastric juice, free acidity, total acidity and ulcer index. The results indicated that ethanolic extract significantly (p<0.001) decreased the volume of gastric acid secretions, free acidity and total acidity and ulcer index.