179-185Maximum antiinflammatory activity of
phytic acid (PA) was seen at an oral dose of 150 mg/kg in the carrageenan induced
rat paw edema model. Although PA showed ability to prevent denaturation of
proteins, it showed less antiinflammatory activity than ibuprofen. Ability of
PA, to bring down thermal denaturation of proteins might be a contributing
factor in the mechanism of action against inflammation. PA, at all the doses
tested, showed significant protection from ulcers induced by ibuprofen, ethanol
and cold stress, with a maximum activity at 150 mg/kg. There was a significant
increase in gastric tissue malondialdehyde levels in ethanol treated rats but
these levels decreased following PA
pretreatment. Moreover, pretreatment with
PA significantly inhibited various effects of ethanol on gastric mucosa, such as,
reduction in the concentration of nonprotein sulfhydryl groups, necrosis,
erosions, congestion and hemorrhage. These results suggested that
gastro-protective effect of PA could be mediated by its antioxidant activity and
cytoprotection of gastric mucosa