Efficacy of Combined Crude Extract of Curcuma longa and Moringa oleifera in the Prevention of Peptic Ulcer in Albino Rats

Aim: This study is aimed at investigating the prophylactic efficacy of combined extract of Curcuma longa and Moringa oleifera leaf against indomethacin–induced ulcer in albino rats.

Place and Duration of Study: This research was carried out in Ibadan Nigeria between November 2017 and January, 2018.

Methods: Fifty (50) healthy male albino rats with body weights between 150 and 200 g were used for this study. They were randomly divided into ten groups of five rats each. Group I was administered omeprazole for seven days, group II was administered Moringa oleifera leaf solution for seven days, group III was administered Curcuma longa solution for seven days, group IV was administered Curcuma longa + Moringa oleifera leaf solution for seven days and group V was administered distilled water for seven days. This group served as the control group. Groups VI, VII, VIII, IX and X were treated similarly as groups I, II, III, IV and V respectively but were treated for fourteen days. At the end of the administration, the animals were fasted for 18 hours and 50 mg/kg of indomethacin was administered orally (p.o) to the rats. After 8 hours of indomethacin administration, the animals were anesthetized by chloroform anesthesia and sacrificed and the stomach removed and opened along the greater curvature, rinsed with copious volume of normal saline and pinned on a board to expose the stomach clearly.

Results: Animals treated with combined extracts of Curcuma longa + Moringa oleifera leaf showed significantly increased ulcer inhibition (71.64%, 75.57%) when compared with those of Curcuma longa (44.10%, 46.53%) and Moringa oleifera leaf (53.43%, 57.58) respectively but showed no significant difference when compared with that of omeprazole (72.60%, 74.29%), the reference drug after 7 and 14 days pre-treatment respectively.

Conclusion: The combined extract has a greater prophylactic efficacy against indomethacin-induced ulcer than individual extracts and gave similar result as omeprazole. The combined extract of Curcuma longa + Moringa oleifera leaf could be used as a prophylaxis against peptic ulcer disease.