Anti-inflammatory effect of volatile oil and hydroalcoholic extract of Rosa damascena Mill. on acetic acid-induced colitis in rats

Rosa damascena is a small plant belonging to Rosaceae family which has been used for the treatment of some inflammatory diseases and digestive disorders in the Iranian folk medicine. This study was performed to investigate the effect of R. damascena hydroalcoholic extract (RDHE) and R. damascena volatile oil (RDVO) on ulcerative colitis induced by acetic acid in rats. Different doses of RDHE (250, 500, 1000 mg/kg) and RDVO (100, 200, 400 µl/kg) were given orally (p.o.) and doses of RDHE (125, 250, 500 mg/kg) were administrated intraperitoneally (i.p.) to the male Wistar rats (n=6) 2 h before induction of colitis which continued daily for 4 successive days. Prednisolone (4 mg/kg p.o.) and dexamethasone (1 mg/kg i.p.) were used in the reference groups. Weight/length ratios of wet colon were measured and the tissues were assessed macroscopically, histopathologically, and biochemically via measuring the myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity. Oral RDHE at all doses examined, and the lowest dose of RDVO given p.o. or RDHE administered i.p. reduced all indices of colitis measured in different assays as well as the MPO activity. These results provide encouraging support for the use of hydroalcoholic extract of R. damascena in relieving alimentary inflammatory conditions and reinforce the use of this plant to develop new agents for treating ulcerative colitis.