Patchoulene epoxide (PAO), a tricyclic sesquiterpene isolated from the long-strored patchouli oil, has been demonstrated the anti-inflammatory activity in vivo based on our previous study. However, the gastroprotective effect of PAO still remains unknown. Therefore, in the present study, ethanol-induced gastric ulcer in rats was carried out to evaluate the anti-ulcerogenic activity of PAO and to elucidate the potential mechanisms that involved. According to our results, macroscopic examination revealed that pre-treatment with PAO signficantly reduced ethanol-induced gastric ulcer areas as compared with the vehicle group, which was also supported by histological evaluation. In addition, PAO was able to enhance the expressions of antioxidant enzymes including glutathione (GSH), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase (CAT) as well as suppress lipid peroxidation indicated by down-regulation of malonaldehyde (MDA). Besides, the anti-inflammatory activity of PAO also contributed to gastroprotection characterized by reversing the imbalance between pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and modulating the expressions of NF-κB pathway-related proteins including p-IκBα, IκBα, p-p65 and p65. Furthermore, immunohistochemistry analysis exhibited potent anti-apoptosis effect of PAO as well, which appeared as down-regulation of caspase-3, Fas and Fasl protein expression. In conclusion, these findings suggested that PAO has gastroprotective activity against ethanol and this might be related to its positive influence on oxidative stress, inflammatory response and apoptosis cascade.

从广atch的广ep香油中分离出的三环倍半萜烯广atch香环氧化合物（PAO）已被证明具有体内抗炎活性根据我们先前的研究。然而，PAO的胃保护作用仍然未知。因此，在本研究中，进行了乙醇诱导的大鼠胃溃疡，以评估PAO的抗溃疡活性，并阐明其可能的机制。根据我们的结果，肉眼检查表明，与载体组相比，PAO预处理显着减少了乙醇诱发的胃溃疡区域，这也得到了组织学评估的支持。此外，PAO能够增强抗氧化酶的表达，包括谷胱甘肽（GSH），超氧化物歧化酶（SOD）和过氧化氢酶（CAT），并抑制丙二醛（MDA）的下调指示脂质过氧化。除了，p -IκBα，IκBα，p-p65和p65。此外，免疫组织化学分析还显示了PAO的强抗凋亡作用，表现为下调caspase-3，Fas和Fas1蛋白表达。总之，这些发现表明PAO对乙醇具有胃保护活性，这可能与其对氧化应激，炎症反应和细胞凋亡级联的积极影响有关。