Anti-inflammatory potential of microemulsion and pure bullfrog oil in muscle injury

Abstract

ABSTRACT Introduction: Every day science seeks new ways to treat various diseases through drugs that are efficient and viable. Thus, therapeutic alternatives that meet such demand are targets of study. Microemulsions are one of these new alternatives due to their peculiar pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic characteristics. Objective: The aim of this study was to analyze the anti-inflammatory potential of microemulsion and pure bullfrog oil using an experimental model of muscle injury. Methods: Male Swiss mice were divided into three groups: control, microemulsion and pure bullfrog oil. After the pre-treatment, a muscle injury was induced in the animals’ leg and subsequently evaluations were carried out in the horizontal extent of edema and compared between the groups at predetermined times. Following evaluation of muscle injury, dissection of the right gastrocnemius muscles was performed for histological analysis. Results: The microemulsion and pure bullfrog oil showed good anti-inflammatory activity, acting similarly in reducing edema during the first two hours, but without statistical significance from the 3rd to the 24th hour after induction. The histological analysis revealed that the muscle tissue of the animals treated with the microemulsion presented mild cellular infiltrate and little wear of muscle fibers when compared with the muscular tissue of animals treated with the pure bullfrog oil. The histological analysis of the hepatic tissue showed signs of injury in the liver lobes of the pure bullfrog oil group, not observed in the microemulsion group. Conclusion: The microemulsion sho-wed good anti-inflammatory potential in the acute phase of the inflammatory response, reducing the formation of edema and preserving muscle tissue against the occurrence of lesions and without inducing injury in hepatic tissue.