Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Number of macrophages and transforming growth factor β expression in Citrus limon L Tlekung peel oil-treated traumatic ulcers in diabetic rats

Meircurius Dwi Condro Surboyo¹, Fatma Yasmin Mahdani¹, Diah Savitri Ernawati¹ , Priyo Hadi¹, Hening Tuti Hendarti¹, Adiastuti Endah Parmadiati¹, Desiana Radithia¹, Shiffin Devi Mardiyana², Indi Mazaya Syarifah³

¹Department of Oral Medicine; ²Oral Medicine Specialist Programme; ³Dental Surgery Programme, Faculty of Dental Medicine, Universitas Airlangga, Jalan Prof Dr Moestopo No. 47, Surabaya, Indonesia.

For correspondence:- Diah Ernawati Email: diah-s-e@fkg.unair.ac.id

Accepted: 19 June 2019 Published: 28 July 2019

Citation: Surboyo MD, Mahdani FY, Ernawati DS, Hadi P, Hendarti HT, Parmadiati AE, et al. Number of macrophages and transforming growth factor β expression in Citrus limon L Tlekung peel oil-treated traumatic ulcers in diabetic rats. Trop J Pharm Res 2019; 18(7):1427-1433 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v18i7.9

© 2019 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To analyse the potential use of Citrus limon L Tlekung peel oil in the treatment of traumatic ulcers in diabetic rats based on number of macrophages and transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) expression.

Method: Standard steam distillation was performed to produce Citrus limon L peel oil with its components subsequently analysed by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Diabetes was induced with streptozotocin (STZ) via administration of a single 50 mg/kg dose. A traumatic ulcer was subsequently induced with a 5 mm burnisher heated for 30 s and applied without pressure for 1 s to the lower labial mucosa of the animals. Citrus limon L oil gel containing 3% carboxyl methyl cellulose sodium was then topically administered to the traumatic ulcer for a period of three or five days. TGF-β expression was analysed through immunohistochemical staining and the macrophage number calculated with haematoxylin-eosin stain.

Results: The major identified compounds in Citrus limon L peel oil include fumaric (31.78 %), d-limonene (17.38 %), z-citral (13.55 %), L-linalool (8.51 %), geraniol nerol (3.56 %), geraniol (2.94 %,), α-terpineol (1.25 %) and γ-terpinene (1.03 %) together with other minor constituents. Treatment of traumatic ulcers with Citrus limon L peel oil produced higher number of macrophages and TGF-β expression (p = 0.000). Treatment over a period of five days also indicated higher expression of TGF-β and number of macrophages compared to that lasting three days with Citrus limon L peel oil (p = 0.000).

Conclusion: Citrus limon L peel oil stimulates TGF-β expression and an increase of macrophage numbers in diabetic subjects during traumatic ulcer healing after three and seven days. Clinical application of Citrus limon L peel oil constitutes a potential therapy in the treatment of traumatic ulcers in diabetic subjects.

Keywords: Citrus limon L peel oil, traumatic ulcer, diabetes, macrophage, transforming growth factor β