Prevention of post-surgical adhesion bands by local administration of frankincense n-hexane extract

Background: and purpose: The formation of postoperative intra-abdominal adhesion band formation may lead to severe complications. This study aimed to evaluate the preventive effect of local administration of frankincense n-hexane extract (FHE) on the formation of postsurgical adhesion bands. Materials and methods: FHE was extracted from the resin of a Boswellia sacra tree and its components were identified by gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In an animal model, the expression levels of TNF-α and TGF-β1 cytokines after application of FHE were assessed to check the inflammatory and fibrotic cues, respectively. Results: Following FHE compound analysis, in vivo experiments demonstrated that intraoperative local administration of FHE resulted in the prevention of adhesion band formation. The adhesion grades in the FHE-treated group were significantly lower than those in the negative control (NC) and the positive control (Interceed). The infiltration of inflammatory cells observed by histopathology revealed a significant anti-inflammatory potential of FHE. Furthermore, the gene expression results proved that significant suppression of TNF-α and TGF-β1 was responsible for its antiadhesion properties. Conclusions: The study reported the potential of FHE as an ointment for the prevention of adhesion bands.