Comparative Morphology of Island and Inland Agastache rugosa and Their Gastroprotective Effects in EtOH/HCl-Induced Gastric Mucosal Gastritis.

Kuntze (Lamiaceae; Labiatae), a medicinal and functional herb used to treat gastrointestinal diseases, grows well both on islands and inland areas in South Korea. Thus, we aimed to reveal the morphological and micromorphological differences between grown on island and inland areas and their pharmacological effects on gastritis in an animal model by combining morphological and mass spectrophotometric analyses. Morphological analysis showed that island had slightly smaller plants and leaves than inland plants; however, the density of all types of trichomes on the leaves, petioles, and stems of island was significantly higher than that of inland plants. The essential oil component analysis revealed that pulegone levels were substantially higher in island than in inland . Despite the differences between island and inland , treatment with both island and inland reduced gastric damages by more than 40% compared to the gastritis induction group. In addition, expression of inflammatory protein was reduced by about 30% by treatment of island and inland The present study demonstrates quantitative differences in morphology and volatile components between island and inland plants; significant differences were not observed between the gastritis-inhibitory effects of island and inland , and the efficacy of island was found to be similar to that of grown in inland areas.