Evaluation of Silymarin effects on post-operative peritoneal adhesion in Rats

Background & aims: Adhesion and fibrotic bands formation is one of the most important post-surgical complication in pelvic and abdominal surgeries. Major studies in prevention of adhesion formation have based on antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agents. Silymarin, Silybum marianum extract contains compounds with antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and fibrinolytic activities thus could reduce adhesion formation. The aim of the present study was to examine silymarin effects on post &ndash;operative peritoneal adhesion prevention in rats. Materials & Methods: In this study eighteen 8-week-old male Sprague-Dawley rats were used. Under general anesthesia a 2-3 cm ventral midline incision was aseptically made. To induction of adhesions the cecal abrasion model was used. Rats were randomly divided into three groups silymarin, vehicle and the control, each containing 6 rats. Rats in silymarin group received 50 mg/kg silymarin, while rats in the control group were given 0.9% sodium chloride and the vehicle group were treated with equal volume of poly ethylene glycol, intraperitonealy once daily for five days. All animals were sacrificed on the 15th postoperative day. The adhesions were scored as 0, 1, 2 and 3. The cecum and adherent bands were prepared for histopathological evaluation. A semi-quantitive scoring system of the hitopathological grading scale was used for the evaluation of the inflammation grade. Results: There were no incisional hernias or wound dehiscences in any animals of the three groups. Both macroscopic adhesion scoring and the histopathological grading showed significantly low adhesion scores in the silymarin group in comparision to the control group. (p<0.05) Conclusion: Based on results, it was concluded that silymarin is effective in preventing postoperative peritoneal adhesions in rats.