Investigation of the effects of local glutathione and chitosan administration on incisional oral mucosal wound healing in rabbits

The aim of the present study was to investigate the effects of local glutathione (GSH) and chitosan applications on the oxidant events and histological changes that occur, during healing processes in rabbits with incisional intraoral mucosal wounds. For this purpose, discs containing glutathione and chitosan (1:1) were prepared and their physicochemical characteristics were evaluated. New Zealand white rabbits were used in in vivo studies. A standard incision was applied to the oral mucosa of rabbits. The rabbits were divided into four groups, being: an untreated incisional group (n = 6), a group treated with discs containing GSH + chitosan (n = 6), a group treated with discs containing solely chitosan (n = 5) and a group treated with discs containing solely GSH (n = 5). The levels of malondialdehyde (MDA), glutathione and nitric oxide (NOx) in the oral wound tissues were measured on the fifth day after the injury. Histological changes in the wound tissues were also investigated. The tissue MDA levels in the group treated with the disc containing GSH + chitosan were found to be lower than those in the other groups. There were no statistically significant differences in terms of tissue GSH and NOx levels between the group treated with the disc comprising GSH + chitosan and the control group that had untreated incision wounds. According to the histological findings, wound healing in the group treated with the disc containing solely chitosan was found to be better than in the other groups. The results of the experiments showed that the local application to the intraoral incision wounds of chitosan + GSH, and chitosan alone, can be effective in the wound healing processes of soft tissues and dental implants.