Gastro-Protective Effects of Extracts of Petasites hybridus: The Role of Inhibition of Peptido-Leukotriene Synthesis

Abstract

Extracts from Petasites hybridus are in therapeutic use for more than 2000 years. They have been claimed to improve gastrointestinal pain, lung-diseases such as asthma and cough, as well as spasms of the urogenital-tract. We have investigated these claims in animal models of gastro-intestinal ulcers and confirmed that alcoholic extracts of Petasites hybridus block the ethanol-induced gastric damage and reduce small intestinal ulcerations induced in rats by indomethacin. Searching for a possible mode of action, we found that ethanolic extracts of Petasites hybridus in hibit the peptido-leukotriene biosynthesis in mouse peritoneal macrophages but leave prostaglandin biosynthesis unimpaired. We conclude that the active principle could be useful in the treatment of gastrointestinal human diseases and that Petasites hybridus may contribute to the inhibition of calcium-dependent processes such as leukotriene biosynthesis.

Key words

Petasites hybridus - cytoprotection - ulcer - peptido-leukotrienes