Acceleration of Ulcer Healing by Local Application of Myrrh Oil: An Experimental Study

Abstract

Background: Oral mucosa refers to the mucous membrane that lines the tissues within the oral cavity. Wound healing is an essential physiological process that involves the collaboration of numerous cell strains and their products to restore damage caused by a local aggressor. This process begins very early in the inflammatory phase and finishes with tissue repair. Myrrh oil has an anti-inflammatory effect on wound contraction, re-epithelization, early neovascularization, and increased collagen density. Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness of myrrh oil in rats oral mucosal ulcer healing. Materials and methods: 36 adult male albino rats (Rattus norvegicus) of about 250–300 g of weight and an age of about 2–3 months were used in this experimental study. The practical part of this study lasted two months (June–July 2022) in the private animals’ house of Al-Dhyaa in Baghdad City, Iraq. The traumatic ulcer, with an 8 mm diameter and 1 mm depth was made on the right cheek mucosa by using a round diamond bur. The ulcer was treated once daily with a single topical dosage of 10 L of sterile distilled water (control Group). While in the myrrh oil Group, the ulcer was managed once a day with a micropipette dose of 10 ml of 1 mg/ml of myrrh oil. Animals were sacrificed after ulceration with general anesthesia over healing periods 1, 3, and 7 days. Histological analysis was performed by calculating the average wound contraction size, inflammatory cells and epithelial cells, and blood vessels. On days 1, 3, and 7 of the healing process, Van Gieson stain and Periodic Acid-Schiff stain were used to organise collagen fibre deposition and extracellular matrix production in all of the groups that were looked at. Results: Histological findings of an induced oral ulcer treated with daily application of myrrh oil showed more epithelization, reduced inflammation, increased angiogenesis, and decreased healing time in comparison to the control Group. The histochemical findings showed a significant difference in collagen fibers synthesis and extracellular matrix formation in myrrh oil in comparison to the control Group. Conclusion: Myrrh oil is more effective in promoting the healing of ulcers than the control Group.