Effect of Ananas comosus nanoemulgel on traumatic ulcers in the inflammatory phase

The initial stage of the wound healing process is the inflammatory phase involving cellular and molecular mechanisms. Traumatic ulcers can develop due to injuries to the oral mucosa. Natural ingredients could potentially be used as medicines to treat wounds in the oral cavity, including pineapple extract containing bromelain enzymes.

This study evaluated the effects of applying pineapple extract (Ananas comosus (L.) Merr) nanoemulgel on the inflammatory phase in the traumatic ulcer healing process.

Twenty-four male Wistar rats aged 2-3 months were injured with a punch biopsy (Ø 3 mm) in the buccal mucosa. Subjects were randomly assigned to a positive control group (Aloclair Plus Gel®) and treatment group (pineapple extract nanoemulgel), where each group contained 12 rats. Gel was applied to the surface of the wound in the buccal mucosa each day for 4 days. Four rats were sacrificed on days 0, 1, 2, and 3, and specimens were prepared for histological assessment. Hematoxylin and eosin staining was used to assess the number of neutrophils and immunohistochemical staining to determine COX-2 expression. Data were analyzed by analysis of variance (ANOVA) and using the least significant difference test (LSD).

The results showed that compared with the control, the wound diameter was significantly smaller in the treatment group and the number of neutrophils and COX-2 expression level were significantly higher (p < 0.05). The number of neutrophils peaked on day 1 and the COX-2 expression level on day 3. These findings indicate that pineapple stem extract could accelerate wound healing.

Following induction of a traumatic ulcer with a small diameter, a greater number of neutrophils and higher COX-2 expression level were found in the group treated using pineapple extract nanoemulgel compared with the control.