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Natural Pharmacy
Oral Patch Containing Licorice Extract
Speeds Healing of Aphthous Ulcers
A timed-release, direct-application patch containing water-extractable components of licorice has proven highly effective for rapidly accelerating the healing of recurrent aphthous ulcers, one of the most common inflammatory disorders of the oral mucosa (Oral Surg Oral med Oral Pathol Oral Radiol Endodontol [OOOOE] 99(4):429,2005).
The effects of the patch, containing an aqueous whole glycyrrhiza extract (GX), were examined on 30 ulcers in 15 subjects, in comparison with patches containing reduced glycyrrhizin extract (DGL), which were tested on 49 ulcers in 46 subjects, and patches containing the purified potassium salt of glycyrrhetic acid (GAP), tested on 14 ulcers in 14 subjects.
The 15 subjects treated with the GX-containing patch reported the healing of 26 of 27 ulcers in 3 days or less when the patch was used as directed, as opposed to a typical average healing time of 7 to 14 days for these lesions. Among the 46 subjects with patches containing DGL, 32 reported accelerated healing. Of the 14 subjects treated with patches containing GAP, 9 reported no acceleration in the healing of their lesions.
The findings of the study have led to the commercial marketing of the GX-containing oral patch.
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