Study of the protective effect of pomegranate peel ethanolic extract on gastric ulcer caused by stress on rats

Lots of herbal recipes are used Syria for treating and preventing gastric ulceration, especially the pomegranate peel powder, so the aim of this study was to investigate whether the pretreatment with pomegranate peel ethanolic extract PPEE in two doses (250, 500mg/kg) has any prophylactic effect on gastric mucosal damage caused by cold-restraint ulcer (CRU) in rats. It was noticed that pretreatment for four weeks was enough to protect the stomach, the ulcer index (UI) was macroscopically calculated and the stomach wall layers were histologically studied, the higher dose (500mg/kg) was more effective comparing with the lower one (250 mg/kg). These results suggest that the pomegranate peel ethanolic extract PPEE has special characteristics that make it useful for preventing from the gastric ulcers caused by stress.