Effects of Sweetgum Oil on Experimental Chronic Gastritis in Rat Model

Background: Sweetgum oil has been traditionally used to treat wounds, respiratory tract problems, osteoarthritis and various stomach ailments. In this study, the effects of sweetgum oil on ethanol-induced chronic gastritis in rats were investigated. Methods: Thirty Wistar albino rats were divided into 5 groups. Group 1 served as control and received no treatment. Except for control, all animals received oral doses of 8 g/kg of 56% ethanol twice a week for 4 weeks to induce gastritis. Group 2, the ethanol group received only ethanol. Group 3 was treated with the conventional treatment of 20 mg/kg omeprazole daily for 2 weeks. Group 4 was treated with 150 mg/kg of sweetgum oil dissolved in olive oil daily for 2 weeks. Group 5 was treated orally with 0.6 ml olive oil daily for 2 weeks. Result: Histopathological and immunohistochemical examinations were performed on the stomach samples. Ethanol caused severe erosive ulcerative lesions in the gastric mucosa and inflammatory cell infiltrations in the propria mucosa. In immunohistochemical examination, marked increases in interleukin-10 (IL-10), interleukin-1β (IL-β) and platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 (PECAM-1) expressions were observed in this group. Omeprazole treatment significantly reduced these pathological findings. Sweetgum oil provided significant improvement in histopathological and immunohistochemical findings, but the protection was not as effective as omeprazole. Moderate healing effects were also observed with olive oil. Sweetgum oil has a curative effect on chronic gastritis, although it is not as effective as omeprazole. Moreover, olive oil has a curative effect on gastritis.