Abstract
Background: The use of plants of the family Euphorbiaceae, particularly Euphorbia tirucalli (avelós) has been popularly widespread for treating a variety of diseases of infectious, tumoral, and inflammatory. Aim: To demonstrated antimicrobial and immunomodulatory effects of these extracts, evaluating the effect of a topical treatment with an aqueous solution of avelós latex on the survival and on intestinal adhesions in rats with experimental peritonitis. Methods: Peritonitis was induced in 24 Wistar rats, that were randomized into four groups of six as follows: (1) Control group (n=6), no treatment; (2) Antibiotic group (n=6), treatment with a single intramuscular dose of antibiotic Unasyn; (3) Saline group (n=6), the abdominal cavity was washed with 0.9% saline; and (4) E.tirucalli group (n=6), the abdominal cavity was washed with E. tirucalli at a concentration of 12 mg/ml. The animals that died were necropsied, and the time of death was recorded. The survivors were killed on postoperative day 11, and necropsy was subsequently performed for evaluation of the intestinal adhesions. Results: Significant differences were observed in the control and antibiotic groups (p<0.01) with respect to the survival hours when compared with the saline and E. tirucalli groups. There was no significant difference (p>0.05) in the survival of animals in the saline andE. tirucalli groups; however, one animal died in the saline group. Necropsy of the animals in the saline and E. tirucalligroups showed strong adhesions resistant to manipulation, between the intestinal loops and abdominal wall. The remaining groups did not show any adhesions. Conclusions: Topical treatment with E. tirucalli latex stimulated an increased formation of intestinal adhesions and prevented the death of all animals with peritonitis.
Highlights
Peritonitis is a serious disease, due to the inflammatory response in the serous membrane lining the abdominal cavity and viscera
Given the popular use of E. tirucalli in treating diseases and previous research demonstrating antimicrobial and immunomodulatory effects, this study aimed to evaluate the effect of topical treatment with the aqueous solution of avelós latex in survival and in the intestinal adhesions in mice with fecal experimental peritonitis
The washing of the abdominal cavity with the latex of E. tirucalli 12 mg/ml increased the survival of animals with fecal peritonitis to the evaluation period
Summary
Peritonitis is a serious disease, due to the inflammatory response in the serous membrane lining the abdominal cavity and viscera. There are cardiac, respiratory, renal and metabolic responses. It is high contribution of fibroblasts that produce fibrin, responsible for the formation of intra-abdominal adhesions[17,20,21,28]. The Euphorbia tirucalli, the Euphorbiaceae family, is a plant used in folk medicine. From Africa was brought to Brazil with ornamental purposes, it is commonly known as avelós. It produces white colored latex widely used by Brazilian folk medicine to treat injuries, infectious diseases, tumors and inflammatory diseases . It produces white colored latex widely used by Brazilian folk medicine to treat injuries, infectious diseases, tumors and inflammatory diseases . 2,9,25,29,30
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