Protective effects of scutellarin on acute alcohol gastric injury

The gastric tissue is often damaged by ingesting large amounts of alcohol. Scutellarin (SCU) is a flavonoid with anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. However, its potential effect on alcohol-induced gastric injury has not been investigated. Therefore, the present study investigated its protective effects on gastric injury. Twenty-five male BALB/c mice were divided into five groups, including the control group, alcohol group, SCU (10 mg kg-1, 25 mg kg-1, 50 mg kg-1) combined with alcohol gavage groups. Haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) were used for histopathological observation in gastric tissues. The levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), malondialdehyde (MDA), and inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) in gastric tissues were measured by respective biochemical kits. We further investigated the gene expression of interleukin-1β (IL-1β), interleukin-6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) using real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR). The results demonstrated that alcohol stimulation leads to the production of inflammatory cells. In addition, alcohol stimulation resulted in a significant increase in MDA levels and an obvious decrease in SOD and CAT levels. SCU improves oxidative stress in the gastric by reducing MDA and increasing SOD and CAT levels. It also showed a mitigating effect on the inflammatory response by reducing the transcript levels of Il-1β, Il-6, and Tnf-α, as well as the activity of iNOS. SCU enhances the gastric response to oxidative stress and effectively reduces the inflammatory response. Overall, our data suggest that SCU may be an attractive therapeutic strategy to mitigate the development of gastric tissue injury.