Antiulcerogenic activity of scoparone on HCl/ethanol-induced gastritis in rats

Protective effect of ethanol extract from Hericium erinaceus cultivated with Artemisia capillaries (HEAC) on gastric mucosal damage induced by 0.15M HCl in ethanol in rats was evaluated. HEAC showed higher potent protective effect on gastritis with effective dose 50 (ED50) value of 22.6mg/kg compared those of selbex and stillen at 46.5 and 44.2 mg/kg, respectively, the presently used medicines for treating gastritis. ichloromethane fraction showed a dose-dependent protective effect on gastritis with ED50 value of 18.1 mg/kg. The biologically active component of dichloromethane fraction derived from HEAC ethanolic extract was characterized by spectroscopic analysis as scoparone with protective rate of 93% and ED50 value of 4.2 mg/kg on gastritis. Taken together, administration of HEAC and scoparone provided protective effect on the gastric lesion induced by ethanol-HCl and may therefore be a promising drug for treatment of gastritis and gastric ulcer.