ANTI – ULCER ACTIVITY OF POLYHERBAL FORMULATION – RO12 ON EXPERIMENTALLY INDUCED ULCER IN RATS

RO12, a polyherbal formulation, is a marketed drug which has been used in various gastrointestinal problems, however, there is no such clear documentation for antiulcer activity. So, the present study was carried out to test its antiulcer activity in rats using different models. Wistar rats were grouped into four, each group with 6 animals and injected with Normal Saline (control), Ranitidine 50 mg/kg (Standard drug), RO12 aqueous extract 200mg/kg and 400mg/kg (test drug) per orally in case of pylorus ligation model. In case of ethanol induced ulcer, misoprostol 10 mcg/kg was given as standard keeping everything else same as pylorus ligation method. Acute gastric ulceration in rats was produced by oral administration of ethanol and by pylorus‐ligated technique. The results showed that in both pylorus ligation and ethanol induced ulcer models, the aqueous extract RO12 exhibited significant decrease (P<0.001) in ulcer index, ulcer score, free acidity, total acidity, pepsin content in pylorus ligation induced ulcer as well as in ethanol induced ulcer models. This study demonstrated that, RO12 polyherbal formulation possess significant antiulcer activity. The aqueous extract of RO12 possesses dose dependent antiulcer effect. Current studies confirmed the claimed antiulcer activity in selected doses (200mg/kg and 400mg/kg).