Effect Of The Ethanol Extract Of The Leaves Of Carica Papaya On The Concentration Of Glutathione (Gsh) Of Aspirin-Ulcerated Rats:- Jackson Stephen E

ABSTRACT vi Since ancient times, plants have been employed in the treatment of wide varieties of diseases. An example of such plant used in the cure of gastric ulcer is Carica papaya leaf. The objectives ofthis work were thus, to examine the phytochemical constituents, acute toxicity and lethality and effect of the ethanol extract of the leaves of C. papaya on the concentration of glutathione (GSH) of aspirin-ulcerated rats. The preliminary phytochemical screening revealed that the extract contained alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, carbohydrates, glycosides, proteins, steroids, terpenoids and fats and oil but resins, reducing sugars and acidic compounds were not detected in the extract. The extract at the tested doses [100, 200 and 400 mg/kg body weight (b.w)] caused significant (p < 0.05) and dosedependent increases in the concentrations of GSH of the rats in the test groups compared to the value obtained for the rats in the control group. The effect of the extract at the dose of 400 mg/kg b.w was comparable to that of the standard antiulcer drug, ranitidine at the dose of 150 mg/kg b.w. The results indicate that the ethanol extract ofthe leaves of C. papaya contains some bioactive constituents that ameliorate gastric ulcer, in part, by elevating the concentration of GSH of ulcerated rats.