Geranium koreanum, a medicinal plant Geranii Herba, ameliorate the gastric mucosa injury in gastritis-induced mice

Ethnopharmacological relevance: Geranii Herba, the traditional medicinal plants Korean and northeast China, has been used in the healing of a variety of gastrointestinal inflammation disorders. Geranium koreanum is a congeneric origin plant of Geranii Herba that can be used as medicinal plants with Geranium thunbergii, Geranium sibiricum, Geranium carolinianum, etc. However, the research of the biological active about Geranium koreanum is not enough yet.

Aim of the study: Gastritis is typically characterized by inflammation, irritation, etc. and it was commonly caused by factors such as stress, alcohol, smoking, and the used of an anti-inflammatory drug. Especially, excessive ethanol ingestion is an important cause of gastric disease mediated by mucosal damage by inflammatory cells infiltration. In the study, we investigated whether Geranium korenum, the well-known traditional medicinal plant, could a protective effect for gastric mucosal damages by HCl/EtOH-induced through the inflammation response analysis in gastric tissue.

Material and methods: The cytotoxicity and anti-inflammation of Geranium koreanum were analyzed by cell viability and nitric oxide (NO) production, nuclear factor (NF)-κB in lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced cells. Also, to the analysis of the gastro-protective effects by Geranium koreanum, we measured the damage ratio, histopathological assay (H&E and PAS staining), and levels of pro-inflammation mediator proteins in gastric tissue, after induction gastritis by HCl/EtOH administration.

Results: The ulcer ratio and inflammatory cell infiltration in gastric mucosa were slackened by the Geranium korenum. Additionally, the expression of the inflammatory mediators in gastric tissue was effectively decreased by extracts 200 mg/kg compared to gastritis control.

Conclusions: As a result, we demonstrated that Geranium koreanum could ameliorating effects against HCL/EtOH-induced gastritis by the anti-inflammatory response and it indicates the potential as a natural preventive medicine for gastritis treatment.

Keywords: Anti-inflammation; Gastritis; Gastroprotective; Geranium koreanum; MAPK; NF-κB.