Protective Effect of Pomegranate Peel Powder Against Gastric Ulcer in Rats

Gastric ulcer is a serious health problem that affects more than 10% of the World's population. Aspirin is the most common drug causes gastric ulcer also, most of the ulcer drugs have harmful side effects, so studies have focused on finding an alternative natural solution. This work provides a natural solution to protect the gut against ulcers, especially aspirin, by using a diet supplemented with pomegranate peel powder in rats. Levels of active components in pomegranate peel powder were detected using the certified methods. For the biological evaluation, 21 male rats (weight, 140-170 g) were used in three groups, group (1) is a control, group (2) ulcer group, and group(3) (ulcer supplemented group). The duration of the evaluation was 4 weeks. Gastric ulcer was produced by aspirin water suspension (500 mg/kg rat weight). The gene expression of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and tumor necrosis factor (TNF-alpha) were determined by RT-PCR. Pomegranate peel powder (10 % w/w) reduced the gastric ulcer area and ulcer index, gastric juice volume, and acidity. Pomegranate powder recovers gastric mucus content and gastric tissue at the histological level. Plasma nitric oxide production was raised while plasma TNF-alpha level was diminutive by pomegranate peel powder. The gastric mucosal TNF-alpha and COX-2 gene expression were significantly (p <= 0.05) down-regulated (2.4 and 12.5 fold-change, respectively) using the pomegranate peel powder. This study introduces pomegranate peel powder (10%) as a protective food supplement against gastric ulcers.