RESUMEN
Caustic ingestion is a potentially detrimental event that can cause serious devastating damage on contact with tissues. Local exposure is associated with severe pain, swelling and ulceration. Caustics-induced oral ulcers can be painful enough to compromise the patient's quality of life. Treatment of oral ulcers is crucial in clinical practice. Albeit, some ulcers do not respond adequately to the conventional treatment. The current study was conducted to evaluate the potential healing effects of topical Salvadora persica (SP) extract, low-level laser (LLL) and high-level laser (HLL) therapies in a rabbit model of caustic-induced tongue ulcers and explore the underlying mechanisms. Fifty male rabbits with a caustic induced tongue ulcers were included in the study. Rabbits were equally divided into four groups: positive control (ulcer) group, SP, LLL and HLL groups in addition to the negative control (healthy) group. All treatments were given thrice weekly for 14 days. Results showed that acetic acid-induced tongue ulcers caused extensive structural tongue damage secondary to overexpression of apoptotic BAX, pathological angiogenesis indicated by VEGF overexpression, marked collagen fibers deposition as well as upregulation of tissue pro-inflammatory TNF-α and upregulation of tissue anti-inflammatory IL-10. The healing potential of topical SP, LLL and HLL therapy are mostly comparable. In conclusion, acetic acid-induced extensive tongue damage. Topical SP extract, LLL and HLL are equally effective therapies against caustics-induced tongue ulcers. However, we recommend SP extract, owing to its safety, non-invasiveness, availability and low cost.