For centuries, many kinds of native plants and their products have been used for the\ntreatment of gastric ulcers by traditional healers in Phayao province. The current study aimed to\ninvestigate the polyphenol content in some of these medicinal plants and to point out the relationship\nbetween their antioxidant capacity and anti-inflammatory activities. Six species were selected based\non ethnopharmacologic considerations: Punica granatum L., Psidium guajava L., Careya arborea Roxb.,\nGochnatia decora (Kurz) Cabr., Shorea obtusaWall. ex Blume, and Ficus hispida L.f. The leaves or bark of\nthese plants were extracted with 70% ethanol and water. Anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities\nof the extracts were analyzed based on nitric oxide (NO) and proinflammatory cytokine production\nin lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated RAW264.7 macrophages and through the determination of\nscavenging activity. The results demonstrated that the ethanol extract from P. granatum and P. guajava\nleaves significantly inhibited NO production by suppressing nitric oxide synthase. The extracts also\ninhibited tumor necrosis factor-alpha, interleukin-1, and interleukin-6 in terms of both mRNA and protein\nlevels and possessed high antioxidants. These extracts were shown to contain the highest amount of\npolyphenols. Our study concluded that among the plants studied, P. granatum and P. guajava have the\nmost significant anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities and polyphenols. These plants may have\nthe potential for use in gastric ulcer therapy due to their indicated properties. Future research should\nfocus on the isolation of their active compounds and their in vivo biological activities. Their beneficial\napplications need to be warranted by such evidence.
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