Efficacy of purslane in the treatment of oral lichen planus

• Published in: Phytotherapy research Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 240 - 244
• Main Authors: Agha-Hosseini, Farzaneh, Borhan-Mojabi, Katayun, Monsef-Esfahani, Hamid-Reza, Mirzaii-Dizgah, Iraj, Etemad-Moghadam, Shahroo, Karagah, Aida
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Chichester, UK John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 01.02.2010; Wiley
• Subjects: Adult; adverse effects; Aged; Biological and medical sciences; chemistry; clinical trial; Double-Blind Method; drug therapy; Female; General pharmacology; herbal medicine; Humans; Indexing in process; Lichen Planus, Oral; Lichen Planus, Oral - drug therapy; lichens; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; oral administration; oral lichen planus; patients; Pharmacognosy. Homeopathy. Health food; Pharmacology. Drug treatments; Phytotherapy; placebos; Plant Extracts; Plant Extracts - therapeutic use; Portulaca; Portulaca - chemistry; purslane; therapeutic use; treatment; Treatment Outcome; visual analog scale; Human; Skin disease; Pharmacognosy; Oral administration; Lichen planus; oral lichen planus; visual analog scale; Medicinal plant; Treatment; Efficiency; Analog; Plant origin; Clinical trial; herbal medicine; purslane
• ISSN: 0951-418X; 1099-1573; 1099-1573
• DOI: 10.1002/ptr.2919

This study evaluated the effectiveness of antioxidant-rich purslane in the treatment of oral lichen planus (OLP). A total of 37 biopsy-proven symptomatic OLP patients were selected for this randomized double-blind placebo-controlled trial. All subjects were divided into two groups to receive purslane (n = 20) or placebo (n = 17) for 3 months. Assessments were made at baseline, after 2 weeks and each month for 6 months, based on the visual analog scale (VAS) and clinical improvement including lesion type and size. Approximately 83% of the purslane patients showed partial to complete clinical improvement but 17% had no response. In the placebo group 17% experienced partial improvement, 73% did not respond and 10% showed worsening. According to VAS scores, a partial to complete response was observed in all purslane-treated patients, while 71%, 15% and 14% of the controls demonstrated partial response, no response and worsening of the symptoms, respectively. A significant decrease in VAS scores was seen at the end of the study period (p < 0.001). No serious side-effects occurred in either of the groups. According to our findings purslane is clinically effective in the treatment of OLP. Considering the lack of side-effects during the study period, it may be a favorable alternative treatment for OLP. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.