en علوم آزمایشگاهی Laboratory Sciences تحقيقي Original Paper <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Background and objectives:</span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> Gastric ulcers occur when the mucous layer covering the gastric wall is damaged. <i>Curcuma</i> and licorice are famous ancient herbs that have been widely used as food additives and medicinal herbs. The present study aimed to investigate gastroprotective activity of <i>Curcuma</i> and licorice extract (CLE) against ethanol-induced gastric ulcers in male Wistar rats.</span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Methods:</span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> Fifteen male Wistar rats were randomly divided into five groups and fasted for 24 hours with free access to water. The rats received different doses of CLE (200 and 500 mg/kg) or omeprazole (20 mg/kg) by oral gavage. One hour after the induction of gastric ulcer via absolute ethanol administration (5 ml/kg), the rats were sacrificed, and the stomach was opened along the greater curvature. Ulcerative lesions were observed and counted. Total juice acidity was evaluated. Finally, mRNA level of Bax and COX-2 was measured. </span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Results: </span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">The oral administration of CLE (200 and 500 mg/kg) and omeprazole (positive control, 20 mg/kg) to rats remarkably attenuated gastric acidity and the number of ethanol-induced gastric lesions. Further examination of gastric mucosal homogenate revealed significant downregulation of <i>Bax </i>and <i>COX-2</i> in the CLE-treated groups compared with the lesion control group.&nbsp; </span></span></span></span></span></span><br> <span style="font-size:11pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span calibri="" style="font-family:"><b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times="">Conclusion:</span></span></span></b><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><span style="line-height:200%"><span new="" roman="" style="font-family:" times=""> The findings of this study confirm the gastroprotective activity of CLE against ethanol-induced gastric injury. </span></span></span></span></span></span> Curcuma,Stomach Ulcer,Omeprazole,Rhizome, 32 38 http://mlj.goums.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-970-1&slc_lang=en&sid=1 Mohammad Panji mohammadpanji2016@gmail.com 100319475328460023598 100319475328460023598 Yes Research Center for Life & Health Sciences & Biotechnology of the Police, Directorate of Health, Rescue & Treatment, Police Headquarter, Tehran, Iran Marzieh Ghafouri Marzieh.ghafouri2020@gmail.com 100319475328460023599 100319475328460023599 No Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biological Science, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran