Pharmacological comparison of four biopolymeric natural gums as hemostatic agents for management of bleeding wounds: preliminary in vitro and in vivo results

Abstract

BackgroundUncontrolled bleeding is one of the primary reasons for preventable death in both civilian trauma and military battle field. This study evaluates in vitro and in vivo hemostatic potential of four biopolymeric natural gums, namely, gum tragacanth, guar gum, xanthan gum, and gum acacia. In vitro evaluation of whole blood clotting time and erythrocyte agglutination assay were carried out. In vitro cytotoxicity studies with respect to each gum were done in human lymphocytes to ascertain percent cell viability. In vivo hemostatic potential of each gum (as sponge dressing and powder form) was evaluated in Sprague Dawley rats using tail bleeding assay and compared with commercially available hemostatic sponge. Other important parameters like (a) time taken for complete hemostasis, (b) amount of blood absorbed, (c) adherence strength of developed hemostatic dressing(s), (d) incidence of re-bleeding, and (e) survival of animals were also studied.ResultsOf the four test gums studied, xanthan gum (@3mg/ml of blood) and gum tragacanth (@35mg/ml of blood) were able to clot blood in least time (58.75±6.408 s and 59.00±2.082 s, respectively) and exhibited very good hemostatic potential in vitro. Except for xanthan gum, all other test gums did not exhibit any significant cytotoxicity at different time points till 24 h. In rat tail bleeding experiments, gum tragacanth sponge dressing and powder achieved hemostasis in least time (156.2±12.86 s and 76±12.55 s, respectively) and much earlier than commercially available product (333.3±38.84 s; p˂0.01).ConclusionResults indicate potential of gum tragacanth to be developed into a suitable hemostatic product.