Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) ; Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES) ; Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) ; Ethnopharmacological relevance: Cardia verbenacea is a medicinal plant popularly used in Brazil as antiinflammatory, antiulcer and anti-rheumatic agent without detailed pharmacological and toxicological studies.Aim of the study: The study was aimed to investigate the effects of Cordia verbenacea in antiulcer, analgesic and antioxidant assays, as well as to evaluate its toxic effects and phytochemical profile.Material and methods: Antiulcer activity of plant extract was evaluated using ethanol/HCl, ethanol and piroxican-induced gastric lesions methods. The pH, volume and total acid of gastric juice were determined by pylorus-ligated assay. Analgesic activity was evaluated by writhing, tail-flick and hot-plate tests. Antioxidant activity was determined by in vitro lipoperoxidation assay. Acute toxicity and number of deaths were evaluated by Hippocratic screening.Results: The ethanol leaf extract shows a potent antiulcer activity in the ethanol/HCl and absolute ethanol-induced gastric lesions. The IC50 value of plant extract on the lipid peroxidation was 76.11 mu g/ml. Preliminary phytochemical tests were positive for flavonoids, steroids, saponins, fixed acids, alkaloids and phenols. In the analgesic models the extract did not present any activity.Conclusions: Cordial verbenaceae showed a potent antiulcer activity at the dose of 125 mg/kg and this effect may be associated with an improvement in stomach antioxidant mechanisms. (C) 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.