Antiulcer Activity of Ocimum sanctum Leaf Extract in a Pylorus Ligation-Induced Ulcer Model

Abstract

Holy basil, Ocimum sanctum, is a staple of Ayurvedic practice, and leaf preparations of the plant are often described as gastroprotective. The pylorus ligation model in the rat is one of the standard screens on which such claims rest. This narrative review asks what that model can and cannot show about an antiulcer leaf extract, and how much weight the published literature on the plant can carry. It draws on work covering gastric mucosal defence, oxidative injury, the chemistry and reported gastric effects of O. sanctum, ulcer models, and the design and reporting of animal experiments, and it reports no new data. In the ligated rat, the injury is driven mainly by accumulated acid and pepsin, so the model reads out reduced secretion or neutralisation far better than it reads out strengthened mucosal defence. Reports on the plant point towards antisecretory, antioxidant and mucus-related actions, yet the extracts used differ widely, and most studies are small, rarely blinded, and seldom report how animals were allocated. The review concludes that antiulcer activity in this model is plausible but not yet well characterised, that a positive result says little about humans, and it lists what a convincing study would report.