Gastroprotective Activity of Platycerium bifurcatum Extract from Bengkulu in Rats with Gastric Ulcer Models

The prevalence of gastric ulcer is very high, at about 583,635 cases out of every total population in Southeast Asia, and is the tenth most common disease in Indonesia. Gastroprotective activity is attributed to secondary metabolite compounds that inhibit gastric mucosal injury or oxidative damage caused by free radicals. Platycerium sp. contains secondary metabolites: alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, saponins, phenolics, steroids, and terpenoids. This study aims to determine the gastroprotective effect of Platycerium bifurcatum extract on ethanol-induced rats. The research method began by dividing 42 rats into 7 groups, there is 6 rats on each groups, namely healthy group, negative (absolute ethanol), positive (sucralfate), solvent (Na CMC 0.5%), Platycerium bifurcatum extract doses of 50, 100, and 200 mg/kgBW given for 14 days. On the last day, 1 hour after treatment, 2 ml/kgBW of absolute ethanol was induced, and surgery was performed after 12 hours. The results showed that the dose of 200 mg/kgBW Platycerium bifurcatum ethanol extract gave the best effect with an average gastric ulcer index of 1.63 ± 0.28 with the best protection ratio at a dose of 100 mg/kgBW Platycerium bifurcatum ethanol extract of 92.58 ± 1.91% which is evidenced by the results of histology tests on the stomach of rats in each group. Based on IR spectrum data, sharp peak information was obtained at wave number 1019 cm-1, indicating the presence of -OH, C-C, and C-H sp3 bonds in the sample, which supports that Platycerium bifurcatum extract has antioxidant activity from these groups. This study concluded that administering Platycerium bifurcatum ethanol extract showed good doses with a gastroprotective effect to overcome the gastric ulcer problems.