Efficacy of Aloe vera/ Plantago major gel in Diabetic Foot Ulcer: a randomized double-blind clinical trial.

Curr Drug Discov Technol. 2018 Jan 14. doi: 10.2174/1570163815666180115093007. [Epub ahead of print] Najafian Y1, Mazloum Z2, Najaf Najafi M3, Hamedi S4, Mahjour M5, Feyzabadi Z6. Author information 1 Students Research Committee, Department of Persian Medicine, School of Persian and Complementary Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad. Iran. 2 Metabolic Syndrome Research Center, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad. Iran. 3 Clinical Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Mashhad University of medical sciences, Mashhad. Iran. 4 Department of Persian Pharmacy, School of Persian and Complementary Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad. Iran. 5 Student, Students Research Committee, Department of Persian Medicine, School of Persian and Complementary Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad. Iran. 6 Department of Persian Medicine, School of Persian and Complementary Medicine, Mashhad University of Medical Sciences, Mashhad. Iran. Abstract BACKGROUND: Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one of the most common complications of diabetic patients. Mostly, non-healing DFU leads to infection, gangrene, amputation and even death. High costs and poor healing of the wounds need a new treatment such as alternative medicine. So, the aim of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of Aloe vera/ Plantago major gel (Plantavera gel) in healing of DFU. METHODS: Forty patients with DFU enrolled in a double-blind randomized clinical trial. The patients who were randomly assigned into the intervention group (n = 20), received topical Plantavera gel in addition to the routine cares, whereas the patients in the control group (n = 20), received topical Placebo gel in addition to the routine cares. Intervention was done twice a day for 4 weeks in the both groups. Photography and an evaluation of DFU healing were conducted by a checklist and then were scored at baseline and at the end of each week. The collected data was analyzed by SPSS software. RESULTS: At the end of the study, there was a significant difference between the two groups in terms of total ulcer score (P<0.001) and Plantavera gel significantly reduced the ulcer surface comparing with the control group (P=0.039). However, there was not a significant difference between the two groups (P=0.263) in terms of the ulcer depth. During this study, no side effect was observed for Plantavera gel in the intervention group. CONCLUSION: Topical Plantavera gel seems to be an effective, cheap and safe treatment. Of course, further studies are required to confirm the properties of the wound healing of this gel. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org. KEYWORDS: Aloe vera; Diabetic foot ulcer; Plantago major; Plantain; Plantavera gel.; Ulcer healing