Introduction: Gastric ulcer is a serious health problem of worldwide concern.Caffeine is affirmed globally as a safe dietary element as a result of its high antioxidant content.
Aim of the Work: To assess the cytoprotective impact of caffeine on the intact gastric mucosa and aspirin-induced gastric ulcer in adult male albino rats.
Materials and Methods: Forty-two adult male albino rats were divided into four groups. Group I (control group). Group II (caffeine group), received aqueous caffeine (300 mg /kg/day) by gastric tube. Group III, overnight fasted rats received aspirin solution (200 mg/kg/day) orally for 5 consecutive days, then rats were further subdivided equally into: Subgroup IIIa (gastric ulcer group), sacrificed six hours after the last aspirin dose, subgroup IIIb, left without treatment for 4 weeks and subgroup IIIc received caffeine orally for 4 weeks. Group IV (caffeine prophylactic group) before ulcer induction. Serum was maintained for antioxidants activity assay; total antioxidant capacity (TAC), prostaglandin (PGE2) and tumour necrotic factor-alpha (TNF-α).Specimens of stomach body were processed for light and electron microscopic studies. Morphometric and statistical analysis was done.
Results: Light microscopic study of the gastric ulcer group depicted deep erosion, damage of parietal and chief cells with vacuolated cytoplasm and pyknotic nuclei, congested blood vessels and aggregated mononuclear inflammatory cells that were supported by a significant increase of (TNF-α) expression coupled to a significant decrease in PGE2 and TAC levels and a significant reduction of Periodic-Acid-Schiff reaction coupled to a significant increase in area percentage of collagen fibers upon aspirin administration.The ultrastructural assessment confirmed these distortions. Whereas, caffeine prophylactic and treated groups revealed greater improvement in the histological changes depicted previously.
Conclusion:Caffeine has protective impacts on the intact gastric mucosa. Additionally, it alleviated aspirin-induced gastric mucosal lesions in adult male albino rats that might be related to its high antioxidant content