Impacts of <i>Ficus Religiosa</i>-loaded chitosan nanoparticles against indomethacin induced peptic ulcer in rats: promising therapy with enhanced bioavailability and gastro-protective activity

Peptic ulcer is a chronic inflammatory disorder affecting large portion of population with difficulty in treatment. Treatment options include inhibition of gastric acid secretion, histamine inhibitors, eradication of <i>Helicobacter pylori</i> infection and tissue lining protection. These therapeutic options have several side effects, low bioavailability and bio-distribution. To further increase bioavailability, control release, stability, site specific delivery and minimize organoleptic side effects of phytochemical, nano-encapsulation is a suitable strategy. Chitosan is a suitable nano-carrier for drug delivery applications in treating peptic ulcer as it is biodegradable, biocompatible, safe and cost-effective. Therefore, <i>Ficus religiosa</i> (FR) leaf extract was loaded into chitosan NPs by ion gelation method for in vivo anti-ulcerative activity in indomethacin-induced peptic ulcer rats. Results showed that FR extract was successfully loaded into CNPs with 84% encapsulation efficiency while the size of empty CNPs was reported to be 620.3 nm as compared to FR-loaded CNPs 811.5 nm. FR-loaded CNPs showed homogeneous size distribution as well greater physical stability. Furthermore, in vivo studies revealed gastro-protective activity of FR-loaded CNPs in reducing the ulcer index (UI) to 0.51 (71.30% inhibition) while indomethacin only untreated rats showed UI 2.99 and insignificant ulcer inhibition 11.02%. Furthermore, FR-loaded CNPs restored gastric pH, healed rat stomach completely without ulcers or hemorrhagic spot and improved antioxidants and blood profiles compared to plant extract or CNPs. These findings confirmed the effective application of <i>FR</i> extract loaded CNPs as anti-ulcer agents and reinforces the importance of nano-encapsulation in improving drug efficacy.