Experimental Evaluation of Ethanolic Extract ofCarapa guianensisL. Leaf for Its Wound Healing Activity Using Three Wound Models

B Shivananda Nayak,David Malcolm Milne,William H Swanston,Lexley Pinto Pereira,Joel Kanhai

doi:10.1093/ecam/nep160

B Shivananda Nayak, David Malcolm Milne + Show 3 more

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https://doi.org/10.1093/ecam/nep160

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Abstract

The leaves of Carapa guianensis have been used to treat ulcers, skin parasites, and skin problems. The ethanolic extract of C. guianensis leaf was evaluated for its antibacterial and wound healing activity using excision, incision and dead space wound models in rats. The animals were randomly divided into two groups (n = 6) in all the models. In the excision wound model test group animals were treated topically with the leaf extract (250 mg kg−1 body weight) whereas, control animals were treated with petroleum jelly. In the incision and dead space wound models, the test group animals were treated with extract (250 mg kg−1 day−1) orally by mixing in drinking water and the control group animals were maintained with plain drinking water. Healing was assessed by the rate of wound contraction, period of epithelialization, skin breaking strength, granulation tissue weight and hydoxyproline content. On Day 15 extract-treated animals exhibited 100% reduction in the wound area when compared to controls (95%) with significant decrease in the epithelialization period. The extract failed to demonstrate antibacterial activity. Skin breaking strength (P < .001), wet (P < .002) and dry (P < .02) granulation tissue and hydroxyproline content (P < .03) were significantly higher in extract treated animals. The increased rate of wound contraction, skin breaking strength and hydroxyproline content supports potential application of C. guianensis in wound healing.

Highlights

Traditional herbal medicine practitioners have described the healing properties of various wild plants [1, 2]
On Day 15 a significant increase in the wound-healing activity was observed in the animals treated with the C. guianensis extract (Figure 1(b)) compared with those who received the placebo control treatments (Figure 2(b))
Dead space and incision wound models were used to study wound contraction, skin braking strength which are the parameters of tissue cell regeneration, collagenation capacity and mechanical strength of the skin respectively [18, 19]

Summary

Introduction

Traditional herbal medicine practitioners have described the healing properties of various wild plants [1, 2]. Various healing constituents in these plants have prompted researchers to examine them with a view to determine their potential wound healing activities. Healing of skin wounds is a complex process which recruits the collaborative efforts of different tissues of varying cell lineage. A series of events takes place in a predictable fashion to repair the damage. In the subsequent inflammatory response following an injury the cells below the dermis (the deepest skin layer) begin to increase collagen (connective tissue) production reaching the last stage of regeneration of, epithelial tissue (the outer skin layer) [4]

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