Efficacy of An Aqueous Morinda citrifolia Fruit Extract-Phytosome Gel in Treating Oral Inflammatory Ulcer in Rabbit Model

摘要

Background: Oral inflammatory ulcers are one of the common complaints of patients attendingout-patient clinics. Previous in vivo studies had shown that an Aqueous M. citrifolia Fruit Extract(AMFE) possessed anti-inflammatory and ulcer healing activities. Therefore, a standardized topicalbioadhesive gel containing AMFE-phytosome was developed and determined for its oral ulcerhealing efficacy in a rabbit model.Methods: The AMFE phytosome (AMFE-P) was prepared by a complexation method with the requiredamount of AMFE: Phosphatidylcholine: Tween 80 to weigh ratio of 2:1:0.2. Poloxamer 407was used as a gelling agent. The oral ulcer was induced in male New Zealand white rabbits by topicalapplication of acetic acid. Each test compound was applied to the ulcer for 10 days beginning on thesecond day after the ulcer induction. Complete ulcer healing on the specimen obtained on day 12 wasobserved histologically using the histological scoring protocol.Results: The optimized gel containing AMFE-P equivalent to AMFE 10%w/w (10%AMFE-P gel)showed the best bioadhesive gel quality, a smooth and homogeneous texture with an optimum viscosityand pH range used in human oral cavity, a good physical and chemical stability and the highest percentagecumulative release of total phenolic and scopoletin content. It was found that a daily application of10% AMFE-P gel exerted a superior ulcer healing efficacy and a significantly rapid ulcer healing processthan a twice daily application of topical gel containing AMFE 10%w/w or chlorhexidine 0.2%.Conclusion: These findings demonstrated that 10% AMFE-P gel has potential as a safe and effectivealternative therapeutic agent for oral ulcers.