Gastric acid anti-secretory, anti-ulcerogenic and mucogenic effects of aqueous leaves' extract of Ocimum gratissimum in rats

In this study, albino Wistar rats were placed on normal rats chow + drinking water and/or 500mg/kg, 1000mg/kg body weight of the Ocimum gratissimum extract orally, once daily for 28 days and gastric acid, mucus and ulcers determined. All the rats received normal rat chow + drinking water ad libitum for 28 days. Gastric acid, mucus secretion and ulcer scores were determined with standard procedures. Results showed that the mean basal gastric acid output for control, low dose and high dose groups were 11.28 ± 0.70, 8.04 ± 0.57 and 6.14 ± 0.67 µmol/hr respectively. The high dose extract recipients had a significantly reduced gastric acid output compared with control and low dose. Increase in gastric acid output as induced by histamine was highest in high dose (599.02%), followed by low dose 426.28%, then control (221.28%). Administration of ranitidine was observed to attenuate the effect of histamine in all the groups. The high dose group also had a significantly higher mean gastric mucus and lower ulcer levels compared with other groups. In conclusion, the aqueous leaves extract of Ocimum gratissimum decrease gastric acid secretion and ulceration, it also produced an increase in the gastric mucus secretion. If these results are applied to man, it could be beneficial in the management of peptic ulcers and other related complications.