Universidad de Buenos Aires, Facultad de Farmacia y Bioquímica, Cátedra de Farmacología, Junín 956, C1113AAD, Buenos Aires, Argentina.
CONICET- Universidad de Buenos Aires. Instituto Alberto C. Taquini de Investigaciones en Medicina Traslacional (IATIMET), Buenos Aires, Argentina.
J Ethnopharmacol. 2021 Apr 6;269:113712. doi: 10.1016/j.jep.2020.113712. Epub 2020 Dec 25.
Minthostachys verticillata (Griseb.) Epling (Lamiaceae), known as Peperina is a medicinal native plant, with a traditional use as a digestive, antispasmodic and antidiarrheic.
Despite its folkloric use, no scientific evaluation of this plant related to the gastrointestinal inflammatory process has been carried out to date. The present study aims to assess the effects of M. verticillata on gastrointestinal system in experimental models.
M. verticillata (250 and 500 mg/kg) was orally tested in a colitis model induced by acetic acid. Colon weight/length ratio, oxidative stress (oxidized and reduced glutathione), histological changes using Alcian blue and hematoxylin & eosin staining and expression of IL1β, TNFα, iNOS, COX-2 were evaluated. The effect of the extract in three additional in vivo models were studied: intestinal motility and diarrhea induced by ricin oil, and visceral pain induced by intracolonic administration of capsaicin. Finally, the activity on concentration response curves of acetylcholine, calcium chloride, potassium and serotonin were achieved in isolated rat jejunum.
In the colitis model, M. verticillata induced a significant reduction in the colon weight/length ratio, oxidative stress and expression levels of IL-1β, iNOS and COX-2. Also, the extract diminished the severity of microscopic tissue damage and showed protective effect on goblet cells. Intestinal motility, diarrhea, visceral pain-related behaviors and referred hyperalgesia were significantly reduced when the animals were treated with the extract. Furthermore, in isolated jejunum, M. verticillata significantly reduced the contraction induced by serotonin and acetylcholine. Likewise, the extract non-competitively inhibited the response-concentration induced by CaCl and inhibited both low and high K-induced contractions.
This is the first study to validate traditional use of M. verticillata for digestive disorders and demonstrated that its aqueous extract could represent a promising strategy in targeting the multifactorial pathophysiology of inflammatory bowel disease.
弯齿腹水草（Griseb.）Epling（唇形科），俗称胡椒薄荷，是一种药用本地植物，具有助消化、抗痉挛和止泻的传统用途。
尽管有民间用途，但迄今为止，尚未对这种与胃肠道炎症过程有关的植物进行科学评估。本研究旨在评估弯齿腹水草对实验模型中胃肠道系统的影响。
在乙酸诱导的结肠炎模型中，以 250 和 500mg/kg 的剂量对弯齿腹水草进行口服测试。评估结肠重量/长度比、氧化应激（氧化和还原型谷胱甘肽）、使用阿利辛蓝和苏木精和伊红染色评估组织学变化以及 IL1β、TNFα、iNOS、COX-2 的表达。还研究了提取物在另外三个体内模型中的作用：蓖麻油诱导的肠道运动和腹泻，以及辣椒素腔内给药引起的内脏痛。最后，在分离的大鼠空肠中获得了对乙酰胆碱、氯化钙、氯化钾和 5-羟色胺浓度反应曲线的活性。
在结肠炎模型中，弯齿腹水草诱导结肠重量/长度比、氧化应激和 IL-1β、iNOS 和 COX-2 的表达水平显著降低。此外，提取物减轻了组织损伤的严重程度，并对杯状细胞具有保护作用。当动物用提取物治疗时，肠道运动、腹泻、内脏痛相关行为和相关的超敏反应明显减少。此外，在分离的空肠中，弯齿腹水草显著降低了 5-羟色胺和乙酰胆碱诱导的收缩。同样，提取物非竞争性地抑制了 CaCl 诱导的反应浓度，并抑制了低和高 K 诱导的收缩。
这是第一项验证弯齿腹水草用于消化紊乱的传统用途的研究，并表明其水提物可能是靶向炎症性肠病多因素病理生理学的有前途的策略。
