Evaluation of the wound healing effects of Jatropha curcas latex on intact and wounded skin in wistar rats

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Wounds have posed a major challenge to human. It has been a major cause of morbidity and mortality. One of the herbs commonly used among the Edo people to treat wound is Jatropha curcas. It is used for the treatment of superficial wound, to secure hemostasis on wounded skin, as purgative, soap, and for making hedge around farm. It is a species of flowering plant in the genus Jatropha in the spurge family Euphorbiaceae. AIM: This study aimed at evaluating the effects of J. curcas sap on normal and wounded skin of rats. The objectives were to investigate the wound-healing effects of J. curcas in Wistar rats as well as its effects on intact skin. MATERIALS AND METHODS: This study involved the use of 24 Wistar rats which were placed in four Groups of six Wistar rats each (labeled A, B, C, and D). Group A had 3-cm long incision inflicted on the back of the Wistar rats and was treated with the latex of J. curcas. This was compared with Group B that had the same size of wound and was treated with 0.9% normal saline. Group C had the crude sap of J. curcas applied on intact skin. Group D had no wound and nothing applied to the skin. The animals were sacrificed after 28 days, and the histology of the normal and wounded skin was examined. RESULTS: The J. curcas formed blood clots within 5 s of application unlike that treated with normal saline. The histological examination showed that the healing with J. curcas was greater with the re-establishment of the skin layer. The unwounded skin treated with J. curcas latex showed exfoliation of the stratum corneum. CONCLUSION: This study has shown that the latex of Jatropha curcas has haemostatic properties. There was greater wound healing effects when compared to normal saline.