Background (Introduction): Melatonin
has a widespread antioxidant
activitiy
that protects the gastrointestinal
mucosa from oxidative damage
and
potentiates healing of duodenal
ulcer.
Omeprazole is also reported to
be
clearly effective in this healing
process.
The aim of study: is to evaluate
the role of melatonin and omeprazole
in the treatment of duodenal ulcer
either alone or in a combined
therapy.
Subjects & Methods: 36 adult
male persons were included in this
study. They were divided into 4 groups; group I (9 control volunteers),
group II (9 patients suffering
from
chronic duodenal ulcer and receiving
melatonin alone), group III (9
patients
suffering from chronic duodenal
ulcer and receiving omeprazole
alone)
& group IV (9 patients suffering
from chronic duodenal ulcer and
receiving
a combination of melatonin
and
omeprazole). Endoscopic biopsies
were taken for histological & immunohistochemical
studies.
Results : Complete healing of the
duodenal mucosa was observed after
8 weeks of treatment in Group II,
after
6 weeks of treatment in Group < br />III
and after 4 weeks of treatment in
Group < br />IV. Before treatment, immu- nohistochemical study of sections of
ulcerated duodenum showed strong
positive immune reaction for COX-2
enzyme. With treatment, the immune
reaction was moderate then became
mild or weak after complete healing.
Conclusion: it could be concluded
that combination therapy of both melatonin
and omeprazole is preferable
in
treatment of chronic duodenal ulcer
as melatonin could accelerate
the
healing effect of omeprazole ,
shorten
the duration of treatment
and
minimize its side effects.