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Objective: The aim of the present study was to evaluate the status of gastric mucosal defense in pylorus-ligated (PL)-induced gastric ulceration (GU) and secretion in normal and non-insulin dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) rats and to study the effect of methanolic extract of dried powder of unripe plantain banana pulp (Musa sapientum var. paradisiaca, MSE) shown to have both ulcer protective action and hypoglycemic principle in normal and NIDDM rats with concurrent gastroduodenal ulceration. Methods: NIDDM was induced in 5 days old rat pups by administering 70 mg/kg of streptozotocin intraperitoneally and blood glucose estimation was done after 12 weeks (blood glucose level >140 mg/dL and stable). Gastric ulcers were induced both in normal (NR) and NIDDM rats by 4 h PL. MSE was used in a dose of 100 mg/kg, orally (po), once daily (od) for 6 days. Standard ulcer protective drug sucralfate (SFT) and standard oral hypoglycemic agent glibenclamide (GLC) were used in a dose of 500mg/kg and 0.6 mg/kg respectively, po, od for 6 days. Results: MSE but not SFT tended to decrease blood glucose level at the ulcer protective dose used, while GLC significantly reduced it both in normal as well as in NIDDM rats. There was an increased propensity to gastric ulceration in NIDDM-PL rats compared to the normal PL rats. NIDDM rats showed a tendency to increase in acid-pepsin secretion and decrease in mucin secretion and life span of mucosal cells. Both SFT and MSE showed significant antiulcer activity against PL-GU in NR and NIDDM rats, where as GLC showed a significant effect only against PL-GU in NIDDM rats. Both MSE (having little or no effect on offensive acid-pepsin secretion) and SFT (caused decrease in pepsin secretion) significantly increased the defensive factors like mucin secretion and life span of mucosal cells both in NR-PL and NIDDM-PL rats while, GLC reversed the above parameters only in NIDDM-PL rats near to the normal control level. Conclusion: The study thus indicated that diabetes do affect both the offensive and defensive gastric mucosal factors and correction of either blood sugar level or promotion of defensive mucosal factors do overcome the damage induced by diabetes vis a vis gastric ulceration. Plantain banana by virtue of its having both ulcer protective activity and hypoglycemic principle showed better effect than SFT or GLC alone in NIDDM rats.

Keywords

NIDDM, Gastric Ulcer, Acid-pepsin, Mucin, Cell Shedding, Plantain Banana

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