Abstract
Salvia officinalis is an aromatic plant of Mediterranean origin traditionally used to treat inflammatory, cardiovascular, endocrine, and digestive diseases. In this work, the ability of the Salvia officinalis extract in the treatment of gastric ulcers was evaluated, and an innovative administration system was proposed to increase the therapeutic effect of this plant. Salvia officinalis ethanolic extract was prepared and analyzed by HPLC/UV-DAD and encapsulated in a matrix based on gelatin and pectin using an emulsion-coacervation process. The prepared microcapsules were analyzed by laser particle size, optical microscopy, in vitro dissolution kinetics, and ex vivo bioadhesion. In order to determine the action mechanism of Salvia officinalis extract, in the treatment of gastric ulcer, the in vivo anti-ulcerogenic activity in rats, using the ulcer model induced by ethanol; the in vivo anti-Helicobacter pylori activity; and in vitro inhibitory activity of H(+)/K(+)-ATPase were carried out. These three biological activities were evaluated for ethanolic extract and microcapsules to determine the effect of formulation on biological activities. Ethanolic extract of Salvia officinalis was mainly composed of polyphenols (chlorogenic acid 7.43%, rutin 21.74%, rosmarinic acid 5.88%, and quercitrin 14.39%). Microencapsulation of this extract allowed us to obtain microcapsules of 104.2 ± 7.5 µm in diameter, an encapsulation rate of 96.57 ± 3.05%, and adequate bioadhesion. The kinetics of in vitro dissolution of the extract increase significantly after its microencapsulation. Percentages of ulcer inhibition for 100 mg/kg of extract increase from 71.71 ± 2.43% to 89.67 ± 2.54% after microencapsulation. In vitro H(+)/K(+)-ATPase-inhibiting activity resulted in an IC50 of 86.08 ± 8.69 µM/h/mg protein for free extract and 57.43 ± 5.78 µM/h/mg protein for encapsulated extract. Anti-Helicobacter pylori activity showed a similar Minimum Inhibitory Concentration (MIC) of 50 µg/mL for the extract and microcapsules. Salvia officinalis ethanolic extract has a significant efficacy for the treatment of gastric ulcer; its mechanism of action is based on its gastroprotective effect, anti-Helicobacter pylori, and H(+)/K(+)-ATPase inhibitor. Moreover, the microencapsulation of this extract increases its gastroprotective and H(+)/K(+)-ATPase-inhibiting activities significantly.