Gastroprotective effect of gamma-aminobutyric acid against ethanol-induced gastric mucosal injury.

The present study aimed to investigate the gastroprotective effect of gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) on ethanol-induced gastric mucosal injury and gastric epithelial cells injury. Rats were divided into the control group, vehicle group and GABA-treated groups (10, 20 and 40 mg/kg/day). After GABA ingestion for 14 days, rats except the control group were given 1 mL pure ethanol by oral gavage in order to induce acute gastric mucosal lesion. The human gastric epithelial cell line GES-1 was incubated with GABA (100, 200 and 400 μM) for 24 h, followed by treatment with 8% ethanol for 3 h to induce cell injury. The results showed that GABA pretreatment significantly reduced gastric ulcer index in a dose-dependent manner. GABA pretreatment could not only remarkably restrain oxidative stress by increasing activities of superoxide dismutase and catalase as well as decreasing content of malondialdehyde both in gastric tissue and cells, but also significantly reduced pro-inflammatory factors (interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor α) levels in gastric tissue. In addition, significant augments of prostaglandin E2 and nitric oxide levels were observed in the gastric tissues of 40 mg/kg/d GABA treated group. In conclusion, the results in this study suggested that GABA could alleviate ethanol-induced gastric mucosal injury and gastric epithelial cells injury through the improvement of anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant status, as well as the increase of PGE2 and NO levels.