ORAL MUCOSAL ULCER INDUCTION METHODS IN RATS: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW

Abstract

Oral mucosal ulcers are a prevalent condition, but there are still limited drugs available to treat them. Varieties of induction techniques to obtain oral mucosal ulcer models in rats have frequently been used. This systematic review aimed to describe different approaches and to recommend the most effective method for oral mucosal ulcer induction methods in rats for anti-oral mucosal ulcer drug discovery. The PRISMA guidelines were used in the framework regarding this systematic review. The electronic databases PubMed, Science Direct, SCOPUS, and EBSCOhost-CINAHL Plus were used for article searching using specific keywords. The Risk of Bias Tool from Syrcle was used to undertake the evaluation of bias risk. Based on the analysis of 14 articles, the following findings were gathered: Wistar rats were frequently used mouse strains at an average of 8 w old and weighed between 120 and 300 g. Induction methods used to obtain ulcer models were acetic acid, biopsy punch, scalpel blade, thermal, and phenol. Acetic acid induction was the most commonly used compared to the other induction techniques. The ulcers were obtained by acetic acid identical to those that occur on the human oral mucosa and available at a reasonable price. However, the ulcer formation takes longer compared with biopsy punch and scalpel blade induction. The systematic review found that there are various methods for inducing oral ulcers in rats, with acetic acid being the recommended method to produce a suitable mucosal ulcer model in rats.