Planta Med. 2002 Jun; 68(6): 515-8.

Antiulcerogenic activity of some sesquiterpene lactones isolated from Artemisia annua.

Foglio MA, Dias PC, AntÃ´nio MA, Possenti A, Rodrigues RA, da Silva EF, Rehder VL, de Carvalho JE.

Centro Pluridisciplinar de Pesquisas QuÃmicas, BiolÃ³gicas e AgrÃcolas da Universidade Estadual de Campinas (CPQBA/UNICAMP), Campinas, SP, Brazil. foglioma@cpqba.unicamp.br

Artemisinin 1, dihydro-epideoxyarteannuin B 2 and deoxyartemisinin 3 were isolated from the sequiterpene lactone-enriched fraction obtained from the crude ethanolic extract of Artemisia annua L. These compounds were tested on ethanol and indomethacin-induced ulcer models. Compound 1 did not afford cytoprotection under the experimental models tested. Only compounds 2 and 3 decreased the ulcerative lesion index produced by ethanol and indomethacin in rats. These compounds did not demonstrate antiulcerogenic activity when tested on the ethanol-induced ulcer model, with previous administration of indomethacin, suggesting that the antiulcerogenic activity is a consequence of prostaglandin synthesis increase.