Effects of Oral Propolis on Mucosal Wound Healing after Endoscopic Nasal Surgery in a Rabbit Model

Özet

Objective: If the respiratory nasal mucosa is damagedand the mucosa does not heal properly during nasalor paranasal sinus surgery, a revision surgery may berequired. The aim of this study is to investigate theeffects of oral propolis application on mucosal woundhealing following endoscopic nasal surgery in a rabbitmodel.Methods: Twenty four New Zealand rabbits wererandomly divided into three groups, namely the experimental group (EG), the control group (CG), andthe negative control group (NCG). Mucosal resectionwas applied with 3-mm punch forceps in the bilateralventral nasal concha in the experimental and controlgroups. 75 mg/kg/day propolis was added to the dietof the rabbits in the EG for 14 days. The CG continued with the standard diet postoperatively. In theNCG, no surgical intervention was made, and no dietary support was given. On postoperative day 14 allrabbits were sacrificed and left nasal specimens wereexamined histopathologically, hydroxyproline levelswere measured in right nasal specimens.Results: There were no statistically significant differences in hydroxyproline level, epithelial and subepithelial thickness, ciliary and goblet cell count, subepithelial fibrosis and collagen density between EG andCG. Neutrophil count was statistically significantlylower in EG, compared to CG (p=0.019, Tamhanetest).Conclusion: Although there are many studies thatshow the positive effects of propolis on wound healing, such effect was not observed in this study. Thisstudy is deemed to constitute a unique experimentalstudy that can be a resource for future similar studiesto be performed with higher numbers of subjects andhigher dosage of propolis.