Hydroethanolic Montanoa bipinnatifida Leaf Extract Attenuates Acute Ethanol-Induced Gastric Mucosal Injury in Female CD-1 Mice: Associations with Lipid Peroxidation and IL-1β Expression

Background/Objectives: Ethanol-induced gastric injury is a widely used experimental model for evaluating gastroprotective interventions because it reproduces key features of gastric mucosal damage, including oxidative stress, lipid peroxidation, inflammation, and epithelial disruption. Previous phytochemical characterization of Montanoa bipinnatifida leaves revealed a rich profile of bioactive polyphenols with antioxidant potential. Therefore, this study investigated the gastroprotective effects of a hydroethanolic leaf extract of M. bipinnatifida in female CD-1 mice subjected to ethanol-induced gastric injury. Methods: Animals received the extract orally for seven consecutive days before administration of 50% ethanol. Gastric tissues were subsequently evaluated by macroscopic, histopathological, biochemical, and phytochemical analyses. Results: Ethanol exposure induced severe gastric damage characterized by hemorrhagic lesions, epithelial degeneration, mucosal edema, and inflammatory cell in-filtration. In contrast, pretreatment with the extract significantly reduced gastric injury, preserving tissue architecture, and attenuating histopathological alterations. Biochemical and molecular analyses revealed a marked decrease in malondialdehyde levels and IL-1β expression following extract pretreatment, whereas TNF-α expression was not significantly reduced; SOD2 and catalase protein expression showed no significant treatment-associated changes. HPLC-DAD analysis confirmed the presence of catechin and procyanidin B2 in the extract. Conclusions: Overall, these findings indicate that M. bipinnatifida leaf extract attenuates acute ethanol-induced gastric injury and that this gastroprotective response is associated with reduced lipid peroxidation and selective attenuation of IL-1β rather than generalized suppression of the inflammatory markers examined. These results support further investigation of M. bipinnatifida as a potential source of gastroprotective bioactive compounds.