Abstract
The ability of horse chestnut extract (HCE) to induce contraction force in fibroblasts, a process with remarkable significance in skin repair, motivated us to evaluate its wound healing potential in a series of experiments. In the in vitro study of the ability of human dermal fibroblasts to form myofibroblast-like cells was evaluated at the protein level (Western blot and immunofluorescence). The in vivo study was conducted on male Sprague-Dawley rats with inflicted wounds (one open circular and one sutured incision) on their backs. Rats were topically treated with two tested HCE concentrations (0.1% and 1%) or sterile water. The control group remained untreated. The incisions were processed for wound tensile strength (TS) measurement whereas the open wounds were subjected to histological examination. On the in vitro level the HCE extract induced fibronectin-rich extracellular matrix formation, but did not induced α-smooth muscle actin (SMA) expression in dermal fibroblasts. The animal study revealed that HCE increased wound TS and improved collagen organization. In conclusion, the direct comparison of both basic wound models demonstrated that the healing was significantly increased following HCE, thus this extract may be found useful to improve healing of acute wounds. Nevertheless, the use of an experimental rat model warrants a direct extrapolation to the human clinical situation.
Highlights
Skin wound healing involves four basic steps: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and maturation [1]
We demonstrated for the first time that horse chestnut extract (HCE) significantly increased wound tensile strength in rats
In a blinded fashion, the re-epithelialization of the epidermis, the presence of inflammatory cells
Summary
Skin wound healing involves four basic steps: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and maturation [1]. Considering economic aspects, therapy based on phytomedicine represents a feasible option of treatment in many regions, the request to find new approaches promoting wound repair prompted us to focus on herbal products. It has been found that Aesculus hippocastanum L. extracts (horse chestnut extract–HCE) improve the repair of venous ulcers [7], contraction force in fibroblasts [8], exert antioxidant [9,10] and anti-aging [11] activities. The generation of contraction force in fibroblasts was associated with the formation of stress fibers and activation of Rho protein and Rho kinase but not by modulating the myosin light chain kinase or other kinases [8]. It has been reported that the HCE extract contains bioflavonoids (quercetin, kaemferol and their diglycosyl derivatives), triterpenoid saponins (escin, prosapogenin), proanthocyanidin A2 and coumarins (esculin and fraxin) [13]
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