Pretreatment With Hyssopus officinalis Ethyl Acetate Leaf Extract Mitigates Gastric Mucosal Injury: A Potential Gastroprotective Strategy

Peptic ulcer disease continues to pose a significant health burden in the area of gastrointestinal diseases, while ethanol-induced gastric damage is a well-established experimental model for developing and testing mucosal protective agents. In this investigation, we evaluated the gastroprotective efficacy of the ethyl acetate leaf extract of Hyssopus officinalis (EALE) in ethanol-induced gastric mucosal injury in rats, and tried to assess the phytochemical constituents of EALE using ultra-performance liquid chromatography-electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (UPLC-ESI-MS/MS). Our findings indicate that pretreatment with EALE at doses of 250 and 500 mg/kg protected against gastric lesions induced by ethanol, with the 500 mg/kg dose completely preventing gastric ulceration (100% inhibition) and more efficaciously than the clinically-utilized omeprazole treatment (86% inhibition, 80 mg/kg). Histopathological analysis showed only intact mucosa indicating no evidence of damage to the tissue in the 500 mg/kg group. Using UPLC-ESI-MS/MS, we characterized a rich phytochemical profile that included 20 metabolites from the EALE, such as phenolic acids, flavonoids, quinones, and vitamins. The major compounds (quercetin 24.09%, esculin acid 24.37%, hesperetin acid 20.46%, and naringenin 8.63%) likely contributed to the cytoprotective implications of EALE. The results of this study support H. officinalis as a natural therapeutic agent with gastroprotective activity and further its development as a new dietary adjunct for gastric ulcers