Plant-based green synthesis of nanoparticles as an effective and safe treatment for gastric ulcer.

Gastric ulcer is a chronic disease that affects about 10% of the world's population. This disease is caused by factors such as stress, smoking, alcohol consumption, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), Helicobacter pylori infection, and genetic factors. Herbal medicines such as plant extracts are new sources of drugs with promising results in treating gastric ulcers. Nanotechnology and nanomedicine have been able to reach this objective to some extent. Green synthesis is an alternative method adapted for chemical and physical methods. In the last few years, fungi, bacteria, viruses, algae, and plants have been used to produce metallic nanoparticles. Since nanoparticles synthesized by the green method can be effective in anticancer, antidiabetic, antiulcer, anti-inflammatory, and antioxidant treatments, the aim of this review was to study the effect of metal nanoparticles and metal oxides produced by the green method on the treatment of gastric ulcers. For this purpose, an electronic search of published research and review articles in PubMed, Scopus, Science Direct, Cochrane databases, and Google Scholar was conducted using a combination of keywords of "gastric ulcers and nanoparticles", "gastric ulcers and Green synthesis" and "stomach ulcers and nanoparticles". After a full review of published articles and their references, 120 articles were identified for further detailed review. The articles selected were between 2000 and March 2023, and 2 articles published in 1972 and 1997 were utilized. The results of this study have shown that polymeric, metal, and metal oxide nanoparticles synthesized from plants can be effective in treating gastric ulcers, especially ulcers caused by H. pylori, ethanol, and NSAIDs.