Year: 2025
Type: article
Abstract: ABSTRACT Background Fennel ( Foeniculum vulgare ) , a culinary and folk medicinal plant used worldwide in infantile colic, bloating, and indigestion, has scarce scientific evidence. Methods To explore its impact on gastric motility, guinea pig circular and longitudinal smooth muscle strips from the antrum, corpus, and fundus were mounted in an organ bath, and freshly brewed fennel tea was applied in concentrations from 0.78 to 100 μL mL −1 . Changes in muscle tone, as well as amplitude and frequency of spontaneous phasic activity, were measured by force transducers. Treatment was repeated in the presence of the neurotoxin tetrodotoxin (TTX), the nitric oxide synthase inhibitor N (ω)‐nitro‐L‐arginine‐methyl ester (L‐NAME), and the nonselective store‐operated Ca2+ entry blocker SKF‐96365. Key results Fennel tea did not change the tone or contractile frequency in antrum strips but increased the amplitude of phasic contractions significantly and reversibly at the two highest concentrations in longitudinal and at all concentrations in circular preparations ( p < 0.05). In the fundus and corpus, it induced a significant, reversible relaxation in both circular and longitudinal muscle strips at all concentrations ( p < 0.05). TTX and L‐NAME did not alter the effect of fennel tea ( p > 0.05). However, the relaxation was inhibited by SKF‐96365 in both fundus and corpus ( p < 0.05). Conclusions and Inferences Fennel tea acts as a spasmolytic in the proximal stomach and as a prokinetic in the antrum, which supports its observed beneficial effects in gastrointestinal conditions like functional dyspepsia. The antispasmodic effect seems to be mediated by store‐operated smooth muscle Ca2+ channels, but the exact target needs to be further explored.
Source: Neurogastroenterology & Motility
DOI: 10.1111/nmo.70201
Institution: Technical University of Munich
Language: English
Subfield: Gastroenterology
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
Estimated APC paid: $4,640
Funder: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
OpenAlex ID: W4416344952