Herbs in Oral Mucositis

Abstract

Search strategy: Electronic searches through PubMed, MEDLINE, Cochrane Database, and Google Scholar were accomplished and a reference list of relevant articles was undertaken. Among them English-language papers with available full texts focusing on the medicinal herbs in the treatment of cancer therapy-induced oral mucositis were chosen. The keywords used were medicinal plant, chemotherapy, oral ulcer, mouth ulcer, oral mucositis, stomatitis, radiotherapy, and neoplasms.Aloe vera: The Aloe vera plant includes several active agents which contain polysaccharides, anthraquinone, lectin, superoxide dismutase (an antioxidant enzyme), glycoprotein, amino acids, vitamins C and E and minerals.This herbal agent provides antioxidant properties, COX-2 suppression and immune modulatory mechanisms. The result of a study that evaluated the oral aloe vera in the patient undergoing radiation therapy did not show any positive effects, but the quality of life scores were slightly improved [16]. Another study that was done in 2009, demonstrated that aloe vera juice is effective in reducing the incidence of mucositis in patients with radiation therapy, especially those with lower mucositis grading. Hence, aloe vera may not be able to completely prevent oral mucositis, but alleviates and reduce the progression of mucositis [17]. In a recent study by de Freitas Cuba L et al., the topical application of aloe vera has a positive effect in healing of lesions induced on the tongue of rats subjected to radiation [18]. In another study, Ahmadi A showed that aloe vera mouth wash alleviated oral mucositis due to head and neck radiation [19]. Borneol and borax powder:This agent is administered locally in oral inflammation and aphthous ulceration, which contains Borax, Borneolum, and Indigo naturalis. Borax extracts of natural borax mineral decrease genotoxic effects of heavy metal on human blood cell cultures and normalizes reduced antioxidant enzyme activities. ABSTRACTOral mucositis is an inflammatory mucosal destruction as a result of chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy, which in severe cases can impair patients' quality of life. Moreover, mucosal infection and/or systemic involvement due to compromised immunity leads to delay or discontinuation of the treatment. Many strategies and agents have been suggested for the management of this condition. Because of their lower side effects compared to chemical drugs, general interest in evaluating therapeutic effects of herbs has been increased intensively. Herbal plants apply their effect through different mechanisms of action: antioxidant, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antifungal, antiseptic, and anticarcinogenic activity. Recently, various natural agents in plants have been noticed in mucositis, which may improve the symptoms through different interventions. The purpose of this review is to focus on the preventive or therapeutic use of herbal medicine to alleviate oral mucositis.Maryam Baharvand et al., Herbs in Mucositis.www.jcdr.net

Beneficial Biological Activities of Cinnamomum osmophloeum and Its Potential Use in the Alleviation of Oral Mucositis: A Systematic Review

“…Other biomaterials or herbal products, such as Aloe vera, Acacia catechu, Chamomile, Hangeshashinto, indigowood root (Isatis indigotica Fort. ), honey, Traumeel S, water grass decoction, and Weleda Ratanhia, also showed similar effects on the alleviation of OM via anti-inflammation activities [17,[63][64][65][66][67][68][69][70][71][72]. The bioactive properties of the yarrow plant (Achillea mileofolium), honey, Callendula officinalis flowers, Hipophae rhamnoides L. plant, Chamomile, and Aloe vera were associated with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and wound healing effects of oral mucositis therapy (Table 4) [64][65][66][72][73][74][75][76][77].…”

Mucoadhesive formulation containing Curcuma longa L. reduces oral mucositis induced by 5‐fluorouracil in hamsters

“…Several therapeutic approaches have been employed to date to prevent and treat OM lesions (Lalla et al, ). However, efforts remain focused on the continuing search for new therapies for mucositis (Baharvand et al, ; Dos Santos Filho et al, ). Herbal products have attracted significant attention of researchers in this field (Koohi‐Hosseinabadi et al, ; Koohi‐Hosseinabadi et al, ; Mardani et al, ; Showraki et al, ).…”

“…In addition, other anti‐inflammatory agents have also been studied in the management of OM (Barbosa et al, ). Herbal medicines have been considered as new modalities to be studied for the management of inflammatory conditions, including mucositis (Baharvand, Jafari, & Mortazavi, ; Cinausero et al, ), because they are safe, easily accessible, and inexpensive. Among several phytotherapeutic agents, our study group previously showed that chamomilla is effective in the treatment of OM in a hamster model reducing the tissue levels of interleukin 1 beta and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF‐α; Curra et al, ).…”

Anticancer Activity of Uncommon Medicinal Plants from the Republic of Suriname: Traditional Claims, Preclinical Findings, and Potential Clinical Applicability against Cancer

“…Secondly, mistletoe extracts may alleviate cancer-related fatigue [212]; preparations from the holy basil Ocimum sanctum L. (Lamiaceae) may avert radiation-induced clastogenesis [213]; those based on A. vera may prevent or treat radiation-induced oral mucositis [214]; and the gingerols and shogaols in Z. officinale may reduce the cardiotoxicity of doxorubicin [215]. These compounds may exercise their protective effects through their anti-inflammatory, immunemodulating, free radical-scavenging, antioxidant, and/or metal-chelating properties [212][213][214][215].…”