Volume 2 • Issue 1 • 1000107 Madridge J Case Rep Stud. ISSN: 2639-4553 26 Madridge Journal of Case Reports and Studies Research Article Open Access Assessment of the Topical and Systemic Effects of Omega- 3 on Oral mucosal wound healing in albino rats: A Histopathological and Biochemical study Soha Basha 1 , Sahar Mahmoud ElRefai 2 and Mervet Moussa 3 * 1 Lecturer of Oral Medicine and Radiology, Faculty of Dentistry, Pharos University, Alexandria, Egypt 2 Lecturer of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, Fayoum University, Cairo, Egypt 3 Professor of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Oral and Dental Medicine, Cairo University, Cairo, Egypt Article Info *Corresponding author: Mervet Moussa Professor Departments of Oral Pathology Cairo University Egypt E-mail: drmervet@yahoo.com Received: September 4, 2017 Accepted: April 2, 2018 Published: April 9, 2018 Citation: Basha S, ElRefai SM, Moussa MM. Assessment of the Topical and Systemic Effects of Omega-3 on Oral mucosal wound healing in albino rats: A Histopathological and Biochemical study. Madridge J Case Rep Stud. 2018; 2(1): 26-31. doi: 10.18689/mjcrs-1000107 Copyright: © 2018 The Author(s). This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Published by Madridge Publishers Abstract The use of herbal medicine is increasingly becoming more accepted in treatment of many inflammatory conditions. Omega-3 is recently introduced as an effective therapeutic agent and a powerful anti-inflammatory agent, which promotes whole-body wound healing including ulcers as it has an important role in modulation of proinflammatory cytokine production. This study was conductedto evaluate and compare the effect of topicalapplication and systemic administration of omega-3 on the healing of oral mucosal wounds which wereexperimentally induced in albino rats. The experiment comprised 45 albino rats which were divided into 3 groups (n= 15 per group); control group not receiving any treatment(C) group (L) receiving topical application of omega3, and group(S) receiving systemic omega3; 5 rats from each group were sacrificed at day 2, 4 and 8 respectively. Tissue samples were obtained and prepared for histological and biochemical evaluations. The data obtained were analyzed using one way ANOVA and Post Hoc Tukey statistical analysis with the previously performed tests of normality and homogeneity. The biochemical results showed significant improvement regarding TNF- α and IL8-levels after 4 and 8 days in both groups compared to the control. The topical omega3 group showed better results than the systemic with significant differences at 4& 8 days inTNF- α while for IL8 the difference was only significantafter 8 days. The histological results revealed severe epithelial degeneration and inflammation in the lamina propria after 2 days whether using local or systemic treatment however increase reepithelialization gradually increased at 4 days and an even thickness of the epitheliumwas noted by the end of day 8. Conclusion: Omega 3 greatly enhanced ulcer healing and showed superior effects using topical application. Keywords: Oral ulcers; Omega 3; Interleukin 8; TNF. Introduction Ulcers are among the most frequent lesions encountered in the oral cavity, they may be manifested as either solitary or multiple lesions affecting skin and/or oral mucous membrane [1]. An ulcer is generally defined as a break in the skin with loss or discontinuity of surface epitheliumand can also be defined as a local defect due to disruption in mucosal integrity. The exact cause of ulcersremains unclear, nevertheless many factors have always been blamed including primarily trauma, moreover chemicals, infections, cancers, radiation and certain therapeutic drugs [2]. ISSN: 2639-4553