ANTI-ULCER ACTIVITY OF ETHANOLIC EXTRACT FROM STEMS OF IPOMOEA PES- CAPRAE (L.) R.Br IN WISTAR ALBINO RATS

Ipomoea Pes-caprae(L.) R.Br (IP)distributed in the tropics and subtropics regions is used in folk and tribal medicines. Traditionally IP was used to treat arthritis, pain, ulcer, cancer and wounds. The present study aims to discover the anti-ulcer effect of ethanolic extract from stems of IP (EESIP) at doses 200 mg/kg & 400 mg/kg in aspirin and pylorus ligature induced gastric ulcer models in terms ofprotection from lipid peroxidation and the antiulcer activity as seen by the area of gastric lesions, gastric juice volume, gastric pH, total acidity and total adherent gastric mucus content. Ranitidine (27 mg/kg) was used as the standard. Preliminary phytochemical study of EESIP revealed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, glycosides, flavonoids, tannins, sterols and terpenoids. The LD50 ofEESIPwas found to be >2000 mg/kg by acute oral toxicity study. EESIP produced dose dependent and significant anti-ulcer activity when compared to control group animals. Presence of flavonoids, tannins, sterols and terpenoids may be responsible for the anti-ulcer activity of EESIP.