EFFECTS OF TOPICAL TREATMENT WITH EUPHORBIA TIRUCALLI LATEX ON THE SURVIVAL AND INTESTINAL ADHESIONS IN RATS WITH EXPERIMENTAL PERITONITIS

Background:

The use of plants of the family Euphorbiaceae, particularly Euphorbiatirucalli (avelós) has been popularly widespread for treating avariety 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 avelóslatex on the survival and on intestinal adhesions in rats with experimentalperitonitis.

Methods:

Peritonitis was induced in 24 Wistar rats, that were randomized into four groupsof 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) Salinegroup (n=6), the abdominal cavity was washed with 0.9% saline; and (4)E.tirucalli group (n=6), the abdominal cavity was washed withE. tirucalli at a concentration of 12 mg/ml. The animals thatdied were necropsied, and the time of death was recorded. The survivors werekilled on postoperative day 11, and necropsy was subsequently performed forevaluation 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 andE. 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. tirucalligroupsshowed strong adhesions resistant to manipulation, between the intestinal loopsand abdominal wall. The remaining groups did not show any adhesions.

Conclusions:

Topical treatment with E. tirucalli latex stimulated an increasedformation of intestinal adhesions and prevented the death of all animals withperitonitis.