The effect of oral channa striatus extract administration on total antioxidant status and its relationship with high sensitive c-reactive protein (HSCRP) during wound healing in post lower segment caesarean section women

Introduction: Channa striatus (Haruan) is widely consumed in Malaysia to promote wound healing which involves three overlapping phases; inflammation, new tissue formation and tissue remodelling. During inflammatory phase, large amount of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced resulting in severe cell damage which in turn delays wound healing. CRP has been shown to significantly increase in response to local inflammation. High sensitive Creactive protein (hsCRP) detects the same CRP molecule but its lower limit of detection is lower. C.striatus has been proposed to have antioxidant and antiinflammatory properties for better healing of the wound. Objectives: This study was done to determine the level of Total Antioxidant Status (TAS) in subject receiving C.striatus extract and placebo (maltodextrin) in post Lower Segment Caesarean Section(LSCS) women. The specific objectives were to compare the TAS level in C.striatus extract group and placebo group and to study the relationship between the level of TAS and hsCRP during wound healing. Methods: This was a randomized; double blinded, placebo-controlled study conducted in HUSM. The treatment group consumed 500mg of freeze dried C.striatus extract daily while the placebo group consumed 500mg of maltodextrin daily for 6 weeks. Venous bloods were taken from each subject postoperatively at day 1, day 3, week 2, week 4 and week 6 and were analyzed for TAS and hsCRP using Selectra E machine. Data analysis was done using SPSS Version 20. Result: A total of 73 patients were studied, 39 patients consumed C.striatus and 34 consumed maltodextrin. The result for TAS, when compared between both groups showed no significant differences in all the period studied. Within groups analysis showed that the TAS levels in patients who consumed C.striatus were all significant (p-value < 0.05) between Day 1 till Week 6 and for Day 3 with Week 2 and Week 6. The results of hsCRP within groups showed a significant level between all the periods studied in C.striatus group. The hsCRP level was highest on day 1 and showed a reducing trend with time. When compared between the two groups, the hsCRP level showed no significant difference except for week 6. There was only weak relationship between TAS and hsCRP on week 4 for C.striatus group. Conclusion: There was no significant difference in the level of TAS and hsCRP between C.striatus and placebo group. However, the TAS level showed increment within group from week 2 onwards which might involve in the enhancement of wound healing. For hsCRP, there was significant decrease in these parameters in C.striatus group at week 6 compared to the placebo which indicates the beneficial effect of C.striatus administration during wound healing of post LSCS Women. This study showed weak relationship between TAS and hsCRP only on week 4