The role and mechanisms of aged black tea in alleviating gastric mucosal injury through modulation of the NF-κB/MAPK signaling pathway

Gastric mucosal injury, a digestive system disorder with an escalating incidence in recent years, poses a significant threat to human health. The emerging market for aged black tea has increasingly drawn attention to its health benefits. This study investigates the potential mechanisms by which aged black tea mitigates gastric mucosal damage through network pharmacology and in vivo experiments. Specifically, we evaluated the therapeutic effects of aged black tea extracts on HCl/EtOH-induced gastric mucosal injury. Our results demonstrate that aged black tea extracts can reduce gastric mucosal injury and histopathological damage indices, as well as inhibit oxidative stress. The mechanism underlying the alleviation of gastric mucosal injury by aged black tea may involve the inhibition of the NF-κB/MAPK signaling pathway and inflammatory mediators such as COX-2, IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α.