Hesperidin, a citrus flavanone glycoside, accelerates the gastric healing process of acetic acid-induced ulcer in rats.

The flavonoid hesperidin is abundantly found in citrus fruits and is used to treat vascular diseases. Previous studies described its gastroprotective actions against stress or ethanol-induced ulcer in rodents; however, results from indomethacin-induced ulcer were controversy. Therefore, given its clinical use and contradictory findings in acute models, this study aims to evaluate the effect of hesperidin (1-10 mg/kg, p.o) on chronic gastric ulcer induced by acetic acid in rats, a model that resembles the ulcer in humans. Moreover, the effects of hesperidin on mucin levels and on inflammatory and oxidative parameters at ulcer site were also measured. The treatment with hesperidin at 3 and 10 mg/kg, once a day, by seven days, accelerated by 34 and 62%, respectively, the ulcer healing process when compared to vehicle-treated group (99.1 ± 6.4 mm). Histological and histochemistry analyses confirmed the healing effect with significant favoring of mucin production. Hesperidin also promoted the preservation of reduced glutathione levels in the gastric mucosa tissue, as well as the normalization of superoxide dismutase and catalase activities at similar levels to those found in the non-ulcerated group. In addition, flavonoid administration increased the enzymatic activity of glutathione-S-transferase by 35%. Tissue lipoperoxides and myeloperoxidase activity were reduced after hesperidin treatment. In conclusion, the flavonoid hesperidin revealed a gastric healing activity in the ulcerated mucosa, an effect that showed to be associated with the reduction of oxidative damage at ulcer site, due to the reduction of the neutrophil migration and the strengthening of the mucus barrier next to the mucosa.