Peptide Isolated from Noni Seeds Confers Gastroprotective Effect by Improving Inflammation and Oxidative Stress in Mice

Plant molecules are continuously investigated to prevent and treat inflammatory and ulcerative disorders associated with the gastrointestinal tract, such as gastritis, colitis, mucositis, and ulcers. However, most of the published work is devoted to investigating the therapeutic properties of secondary plant metabolites. This work investigated the gastroprotective activity of a lipid transfer protein isolated from Morinda citrifolia L., named McLTP1, when orally administered to mice from the perspective of its use as a novel peptide-based drug for the prevention and treatment of ulcerative gastric lesions. Pretreatment with McLTP1 at different doses (4, 8, or 16 mg/kg) reduced ethanol-induced gastric lesions (p < 0.05) by 40%, 84%, and 88%, respectively. In ethanol-induced gastric lesions, alterations in the levels of glutathione (GSH) (↑100%; p < 0.05) and a reduction of 45% (p < 0.05) in the levels of malondialdehyde (MDA) were demonstrated after McLTP1 administration (8 mg/kg). McLTP1 showed an anti-inflammatory effect through modulation of the cytokines IL-10 (↑33%) and TNF-α (↓54%) and was able to reduce myeloperoxidase (MPO) levels (↓95%) in gastric tissue. In addition, the gastroprotective effect of McLTP1 also involves the production of nitric oxide. The present findings reveal that McLTP1 has a gastroprotective effect dependent, at least in part, on its anti-inflammatory and antioxidant effects.Please confirm if the author names are presented accurately and in the correct sequence (given name, middle name/initial, family name). Also, kindly confirm the details in the metadata are correct.I confirm that the author names are presented accurately and in the correct sequence.