Protective effects of polysaccharide from Dendrobium nobile against ethanol-induced gastric damage in rats

Dendrobium nobile is a medicinal herb in traditional China and Southeast Asian countries. Employing a rat model of ethanol-induced gastric ulcer, we examined the protective effect of polysaccharide (JCP) extracted from Dendrobium nobile and explored the related mechanisms. Oral administration with 100 mg/kg and 300 mg/kg body weight JCP for days can significant prevent the formation of gastric ulcer. Moreover, JCP pretreatment could alleviate ethanol-induced histological damage, antioxidant activities, the level of epidermal growth factor, gastric concentration of prostaglandin E, and regulate the signaling pathways of mitogen-activated protein kinases and matrix metalloproteinases. This study investigated the ethanol-induced gastric ulcer protective effect of JCP for the first time, and elucidated that the protective mechanisms.