Gastritis is commonly known as heartburn or an inflammatory disease of the gastric mucosa. The disease can be caused by various factors that can increase stomach acids, such as stress, medication, and irregular eating patterns. Gastritis is characterized by symptoms of nausea, vomiting, flatulence, and pain accompanied by a burning sensation in the solar plexus. Gastritis that does not get treatment can become chronic and cause injury to the stomach, known as peptic ulcer. Injury to the stomach, in the long run, can provide complications in the form of bleeding and even gastric cancer. The use of drugs to neutralize stomach acids, such as antacids, can only reduce gastritis symptoms in mild gradations and should not be used continuously. The use of antacids continuously other than less effective can cause side effects.
The use of herbal medicines such as basil leaves is suspected to reduce the inflammation process in gastritis. Basil leaves that are found in Indonesia are famously used as a mixture of food. Basil leaves can be eaten immediately and traditionally used as a medicine for stomachaches, headaches, and diarrhea. Active substances on the leaves of basil (Ocimum sanctum) in the form of flavonoids, phenolics, and saponins can enhance the healing process in gastritis. Although it has been used daily, but there is still little scientific research on the benefits of basil leaves to treat gastritis.
Festi and friends examined the benefits of basil leaf extract to treat gastritis by giving basil leaf extract to mice suffering from gastritis. Two groups of mice were given taking aspirin medicine, so they suffer from gastritis. Gastritis that occurs in mice is characterized by an increased number of inflammatory cells in the gastric mucosa. The first group of mice suffering from gastritis was given basil leaf extract for 16 days, and the results were compared with the second group of mice suffering from gastritis without being given basil leaf extract.
The group of mice that received basil leaf extract showed a decrease in the degree of gastritis, which was seen from the decrease in the number of inflammatory cells in the mucosal gastric mucosal tissue when compared with the group of mice that did not get basil leaf extract. From this study, it can be concluded that basil leaf extract is proven to reduce gastric mucosa inflammation in mice suffering from gastritis. Consuming basil leaves regularly will reduce gastritis, which is found in many people.
Author: Willy Sandhika
Lecturer at Faculty of Medicine, Universitas Airlangga
Artikel ilmiah populer ini diambil dari Artikel Jurnal Ilmiah dengan judul: Tulsi (Ocimum sanctum) Leaf Ethanol Extract Reduces Inflammatory Cell Infiltration in Aspirin-Induced Gastritis Rats yang telah dipublikasikan pada: Jurnal Kedokteran Brawijaya, Vol.31, No.1, Februari 2020. Link jurnal: https://jkb.ub.ac.id/index.php/jkb/article/view/2630/757
