The effect of intraperitoneal St. John's Wort oil (Hypericum perforatum) in an experimental peritonitis model.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effects of intraperitoneal Hypericum perforatum oil (St. John's Wort oil, SJWO) on systemic inflammation and peritoneal histopathology in experimental peritonitis.

METHODS

Forty-two male Wistar Albino rats were randomized into seven groups (n = 6): control, SJWO, olive oil, peritonitis, peritonitis + saline, peritonitis + SJWO, and peritonitis + olive oil. Peritonitis was induced with freshly prepared autologous fecal suspension, and treatments were administered intraperitoneally at 48 h. On day 5, plasma inflammatory markers, peritoneal thickness, and histopathological scores were assessed blinded.

RESULTS

The greatest weight loss was seen in the peritonitis group (p = 0.002). SJWO did not consistently reduce systemic inflammatory markers. Compared with peritonitis + saline, peritonitis + SJWO showed lower parietal fibrosis and vascular proliferation scores (rank-biserial correlation for each outcome, r rb = -0.833; 95% confidence interval -1.000 to -0.500), but visceral fibrosis was not reduced.

CONCLUSION

Intraperitoneal SJWO did not suppress systemic inflammation. The lower early parietal fibrosis and vascular proliferation scores are exploratory because the effect was not observed in visceral tissue, and adhesion formation was not directly assessed.