Journal of Scientific and Innovative Research 2014; 3(3): 352-356

Available online at: www.jsirjournal.com

Research Article
ISSN 2230-4818
JSIR 2014; 3(3): 352-356
2014, All rights reserved
Received: 16-01-2014
Accepted: 27-05-2014

Sibi P. Ittiyavirah
Deaprtment of Pharmacology,
University College of Pharmacy,
Cheruvandoor
campus,
Ettumanoor
P.O,
Kottayam,
Kerala- 686631, India
Shenika MS
Deaprtment of Pharmacology,
University College of Pharmacy,
Cheruvandoor
campus,
Ettumanoor
P.O,
Kottayam,
Kerala- 686631, India

Evaluation of antioxidant and anti-inflammatory

activity of Omeprazole against experimentally induced
colitis
Sibi P. Ittiyavirah*, Shenika MS

Abstract
Aim: The objective of the study is to assess the possible antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
activities of Omeprazole against acetic acid-induced colitis in albino rats. Materials and
Methodology: In vitro antioxidant activity such as Lipid peroxidation and anti-inflammatory
activity such as protein denaturation assay of Omeprazole were carried out. Omeprazole 2.5
mg/kg i.p was given to the test group. The animals were sacrificed after 24 hours and
colon/body weight ratio and ulcer score was evaluated after the removal of the colon.The
biochemical parameters like nitrate levels and protein concentration were determined from
tissue homogenates. Statistical analysis was done using one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)
followed by Tukeys t test. Results: In vitro results showed that the drug posses both
antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity. There was a significant improvement in colon/body
weight ratio, ulcer score and biochemical parameters in Omeprazole treated group compared to
the colitis group which proved the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activity.

Keywords: Ulcerative colitis, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, Omeprazole.

Introduction
Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) is a medical term that describes a group of
conditions in which the intestines become inflamed. Two major types of IBD are
Crohns disease (CD) and Ulcerative colitis (UC). UC affects the large intestine,
whereas CD can occur in any part of the intestines. UC is a worldwide, idiopathic,
chronic inflammatory disease characterized by an acute phase of inflammation of the
colonic mucosa with inflammatory changes followed by an inactive and quiescent
periods.1

Correspondence:
Dr. Sibi P. Ittiyavirah
Asistant Professor & Head,
Deaprtment of Pharmacology,
University College of Pharmacy,
Cheruvandoor campus, Ettumanoor
P.O, Kottayam, Kerala- 686631,
India
E-mail: ittiyavirah@gmail.com

Omeprazole is a proton pump inhibitor which is extensively used for the therapeutic
control of acid related disorders. The novel antioxidant and anti apoptotic role of
Omeprazole at a dose of 2.5 mg/kg to block gastric ulcer through scavenging of
hydroxyl radical have been reported.2
Proton pump inhibitors (PPI) have been shown to exert antioxidant and antiinflammatory action beyond acid suppression.3 This provides a new opening for PPI in
the treatment of many anti-inflammatory diseases. Therefore the aim of the study was
to evaluate the effect of Omeprazole on acetic acid induced colitis in rats.

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Materials and Methods

Lipid peroxidation

Tissue sample

Human peripheral lymphocyte cell extract was used for

induction of lipid peroxidation. The presence of oxidative
compound will result in peroxidation of intracellular lipids.
30l of supernatant was taken and made up to 500 l with
cold phosphate buffer saline. 0.1 ml of the different
concentration of the samples was added. 2ml of
thiobarbituric acid reagent (15% trichloroacetic acid, 0.8%
thiobarbituric acid, 0.25 N HCl) was added to all the test
tubes followed by boiling in a water bath for 15 min at
95C. After cooling to room temperature, the thiobarbituric
acid residue substrate (TBARS) was measured at 532 nm
spectrophotometrically and referred to the observance of
the standard glutathione, which was treated in the same
way and the percentage inhibition was calculated.4

Animals were sacrificed by cervical dislocation 24 h after

the last treatment. The abdomen was opened and the distal
colon was rapidly excised and opened longitudinally along
the mesenteric ridge. The fecal contents were removed and
the colon was washed with 0.9% (w/v) saline and placed
with mucosal surfaces upward over glass plate or slide
chilled with ice. The ratio of 8cm segment distal colon to
body weight was calculated as an index of colonic tissue
edema.7

Inhibition of protein denaturation

0=

no ulcer,

The reaction mixture consisted of the sample and 1%

aqueous solution of bovine albumin fraction, the pH of the
reaction mixture was adjusted using a small amount of 1N
HCl. Aspirin was taken as the standard drug. The sample
was incubated at 37 C for 20 min and then heated to 51
C for 20 min, after cooling the samples the turbidity was
measured at 660nm and the percentage inhibition was
calculated.5

1=

mucosal erythema only,

Induction of colitis

Estimation of protein

After overnight fasting, intrarectal administration of 1 ml

4% AA solution using 8-cm- soft 6F pediatric catheter.6
After induction of colitis, the animals were divided into
different groups. In this experiment, a total of 18 animals
was used. The animals were divided into three groups of
six animals each according to the following manner given
below.

It was determined by the method of Lowry et al9. 0.2 ml of

the protein solution was taken in test tubes and 2 ml of
alkaline copper sulphate solution was added and incubated
at room temperature for 10 min. 0.2 ml of the FolinCiocalteau reagent was then added and then incubated for
30 min and the absorbance was measured at 660nm. The
concentration was determined from the standard curve
plotted using bovine serum albumin.10

Group I :

Control (Normal saline p.o)

Group II:

Colitis group (Acetic acid i.r)

Group III:
Omeprazole
mg/kg i.p + Acetic acid i.r)

group

(Omeprazole

Evaluation of colonic damage

The macroscopic mucosal damage was evaluated and
validated by the grading scale introduced by Morris.8
Scores were:

2=
mild mucosal edema, slight bleeding or slight
erosion,
3=

moderate edema, bleeding ulcers or erosions,

4=
severe ulceration, erosions, oedema and tissue
necrosis and perforation.

Estimation of nitrate level

2.5

The drug solutions were prepared using normal saline. The

control animals received only normal saline p.o, colitis
group received intra rectal administration of acetic acid
and the test group received Omeprazole 2.5 mg/kg i.p
given 30 min prior to the acetic acid administration.

100 l of the sample were incubated with 100 l of Griess

reagent (1% Sulphanilamide, 0.1% Naphthyl ethylene
diamine and 3% Phosphoric acid) at room temperature for
10 min and the nitrate concentration will be determined by
the absorbance at 540 nm. The standard curve was
obtained using the known concentrations of sodium nitrite.

Results
Lipid peroxidation
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Journal of Scientific and Innovative Research

Omeprazole significantly inhibits lipid peroxidation in a
dose dependent manner compared to the standard
glutathione

mucosal injury compared to the normal control animals.

Omeprazole pretreatment results in a near normalization of
colon architecture compared to the colitis group (Figure 3
and 4).

The IC50 value obtained from Standard was found to be

26.51, and that of Omeprazole was 30.78 g/ml (Figure 1).

Lipid Peroxidation
100
% Inhibition

80
60
Std

40

Omeprazole

20
0
0

20
40
Concentration in g

60

Figure 3: Acetic acid induced colitis

Figure 1: 1Lipid peroxidation of Omeprazole using Glutathione

as the standard

Inhibition of protein denaturation

Omeprazole prevents the denaturation of protein and
significant activity was found at 250g/ml compared to the
standard Aspirin.
The percentage inhibition of Aspirin at 100 and 200 g/ml
were 74.4 and 80.1, while that of Omeprazole was 52.3
and 63 respectively (Figure 2).
Figure 4: Omeprazole treated colon

Inhibition of Protein Denaturation

% inhibition

Discussion
90
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0

Aspirin
100g/ml

250g/ml

Doses in g/ml

Figure 2: Inhibition of protein denaturation Omeprazole using

Aspirin as standard

Acetic acid administration causes significant macroscopic

ulcerations and inflammation of rat colon with significant

The in vitro antioxidant lipid peroxidation study showed

that Omeprazole significantly inhibited lipid peroxidation
in peripheral blood lymphocytes. This inhibitory effect of
Omeprazole was greater with increasing concentrations
and the IC50 was found to be 30.78g/ml. Omeprazole
inhibited lipid peroxidation and exhibited DNA protective
effect in normal human peripheral blood mononuclear cells
exposed to H2O2-induced oxidative stress through
intracellular ROS scavenging and indirect action through
induction of anti-oxidative enzymes.11
Denaturation of proteins is a well documented cause of
inflammation. The inflammatory drugs have shown a dose
dependent ability to thermally induced protein
Denaturation.12 Omeprazole may possibly inhibit the
release of the lyzosomal content of neutrophil at the site of
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Journal of Scientific and Innovative Research

inflammation. These lysosomal constituents include
bactericidal enzymes and proteases, which upon
extracellular release cause further tissue inflammation and
damage.13 The results revealed that Omeprazole prevents
the denaturation of proteins and significant activity was
found at 250g/ml.
The animals were sacrificed after 24 hours of the induction
of colitis and the colon/body weight ratio was determined
to quantify the inflammation.14 Acetic acid induced colitis
resulted in severe ulcerative inflammation of the rat colon
evidenced by the increase in colon/body weight ratio of
colitis rats. Pretreatment of Omeprazole resulted in a
significant reduction of colon/body weight ratio
The clinical activity score introduced by Morris was used
to evaluate the severity of the colonic inflammation.8 The
colitis group proved to be an excellent model of
inflammation as evidenced by the highly increased clinical
activity. Significant damages of the intestinal tissue
including ulceration, erosions, perforations, colonic edema
etc had been observed in the colitic group. A decrease in
the progression of the disease pathogenesis following the
treatment of Omeprazole was observed, which was
characterized by a decrease in the lesion area. The results
obtained demonstrate that Omeprazole reduced the
inflammation of the bowel and have protective effects on
acetic acid induced colitis in rats.
Nitric oxide (NO) is an unconventional intracellular
messenger playing a vital role in various pathological and
physiological processes.15 NO is an oxidant as it reacts
with reactive oxygen species (ROS). It results in cellular
damage as the oxidation process is not specific. It also
forms peroxynitrite anion (ONOO-) by reacting with ROS,
which is enough to avoid the action of antioxidant
system.16 In the study, the colonic nitrate level was
significantly increased by inoculation of rats with acetic
acid. The elevation of nitrate level is indicated for the
inflammation. Intrarectal administration of 4% acetic acid
resulted in increase of NO production, which was
converted to peroxynitrite which mediates oxidative
damage to biomolecules. The pretreatment with
Omeprazole reduced the levels of the nitrate compared
with UC rats. NO in cells produced during inflammation
rapidly converted to nitrite, after conversion to nitrate can
be determined as an indicator for NO production.
Chronic inflammation is associated with considerable
disturbances of protein metabolism.17 In the present study,
tissue protein production was explored for the

inflammation induced by acetic acid that mimics human

IBD. The study revealed that during inflammation, there is
an increase in the protein synthesis in the colon, which
seems to be a relevant tool to study the nature of protein
disturbances linked to UC.18 Additional studies would be
necessary to establish which parts of the colon (mucosa,
submucosa and muscularis layer) are involved in the global
increase in protein synthesis. The study showed that there
was an increased level of protein in colitis rats compared to
the normal group. Omeprazole treated group showed a
reduction in the protein level after the induction of colitis.

Conclusion
Hence it can be concluded from the study that Omeprazole
possess potent activity against UC due to its antioxidant
and anti inflammatory activity. It also puts forward a new
indication of Omeprazole as a drug for treatment of IBD.

Acknowledgement
The authors like to acknowledge AICTE for providing
scholarships. We express our gratitude and thankfulness
for the Institutional Animal Committee for the permission
for doing animal studies.

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