Effects of Symphytum officinale L. homeopathic and phytotherapic on bone regeneration in rats: microtomography, osteocalcin, TRAP, PCNA, histomorphometry and microscopy analysis

• Grant number: 11/21733-0
• Support Opportunities: Regular Research Grants
• Start date: April 01, 2012
• End date: March 31, 2014
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Pathological Anatomy and Clinical Pathology
• Principal Investigator: Adriana Aigotti Haberbeck Brandão
• Grantee: Adriana Aigotti Haberbeck Brandão
• Host Institution: Instituto de Ciência e Tecnologia (ICT). Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP). Campus de São José dos Campos. São José dos Campos , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Symphytum officinale L. (Comfrey) is a plant used for more than 2,000 years in the treatment of wound healing and fractures consolidation. It is popularly used as a medicinal plant and as phytotherapy or homeopathic medicine. However, there are reports of hepatic intoxication after consuming large amounts of Comfrey, which were associated with pyrrolizidine alkaloids present in the plant. Those facts led to prohibiting its internal use. However, Confrey has known therapeutic effects on wound healing, on bone repair and as anti-inflammatory and analgesic on osseous and articular tissue injury and, it can still be used externally. Taking into account the homeopathic formulation of Symphytum officinale L. there are no reports of adverse effects or hepatotoxicity and there are few reports about its effects on bone repair. So, the aim of this study is to evaluate the effects of Symphytum officinale L. homeopathic medicine on bone regeneration compared to the Symphytum officinale L. phytotherapy medicine. For that, 90 healthy adult albino Wistar rats will be submitted to a surgery to drill a defect of 2.5mm in their tibiae. The animals will be then divided in three groups to begin the treatments: Homeopathic (H) - Symphytum officinale L. 6CH 2 globules/1ml/day, Phytotherapic (Phy) - Symphytum officinale L. 500mg/Kg/day and Control (C) - placebo/1ml/day. Treatments will be given by oral gavage until the day of sacrifice, in the periods of 3, 7, 14, 21, and 30 days. Bone regeneration will be evaluated by microtomography and by microscopical and histomorphometrical analyses of osteoblasts and osteoclasts using immunohistochemistry (Osteocalcin, PCNA) and enzymohistochemistry (TRAP). Data will be submitted to the statistical tests of ANOVA and Tukey (0,5%). (AU)