Abstract: Purpose: The present study aimed to characterize the chemical profile of petroleum ether extract from Ferula lehmannii Boiss and evaluate its gastroprotective activity, so as to provide an experimental basisfor the development of functional foods with antioxidant activity and gastric mucosal protection. Methods: The gastroprotective activity of Ferula lehmannii Boiss was investigated using an animal model of gastric ulcer induced by acetic acid. Totally 60 rats were divided into normal, model, ranitidine (positive control, at 0.03 g/kg), and high, medium and low-dose petroleum ether extract groups (1.0, 0.2 and 0.04 g/kg mb). The components of the extract were analyzed by gas-phase chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). The administration lasted for 2 weeks. At the end of the experimental period, all rats were sacrificed to collect stomach samples for evaluation of antioxidant indexes including superoxide dismutase (SOD) activity and malondialdehyde (MDA) level, and protective factors of gastric mucosa such as prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) and nitric oxide (NO). The change in gastric mucosal injury area was considered to evaluate the protective effect of the extract against gastric mucosal injury, and the percentage of injury inhibition was calculated. Results: Totally 25 compounds were identified from the extract, including terpenoids (49.47%) and sulphur-containing compounds (24.01%). The petroleum ether extract significantly attenuated gastric mucosal damage and reduced lesion area by 7.68 to 13.10 mm2 on average compared with other experimental groups. Compared with the model group, the extract at the high dose gave the maximum percentage of injury inhibition of 31.84%, increased SOD activity by 37.27%, decreased MDA level by 32.51%, and augmented the contents of PEG2 and NO by 22.41% and 28.13%. Conclusion: The petroleum ether extract from Ferula lehmannii Boiss can exert protective effect against chronic gastric mucosal injury, and the mechanism may be associated with the enhancement of antioxidant capacity.

Key words: extract from Ferula lehmannii Boiss, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry, component analysis, gastric mucosal injury, antioxidant activity