Global Medicinal Plants and Phyto-Derived Compounds in Wound Healing

Abstract

Cutaneous wound healing is a complex and dynamic process that involves—and is influenced by—various cellular mechanisms and components. The wound healing process consists of four overlapping phases: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation and tissue remodeling. The skin plays an important role in acting as the body’s protective barrier and maintaining homeostasis in various bodily mechanisms. Dysregulation within the wound healing process may lead to non-healing wounds or pathogenic infection, ultimately causing adverse health conditions such as dermatitis and septicemia, respectively. Thus, there is a need for the discovery and development of medicinal wound healing products that may promote wound healing by providing either anti-inflammatory, antibacterial or proangiogenic effects. There is a large range of global medicinal plants, and subsequently phyto-derived compounds, that are traditionally utilized in wound healing practices due to their effective bioactivity in wound healing. However, only a few of these plants have been validated for wound healing activity based on both in vitro and in vivo testing models. Furthermore, there is a lack of clinical testing and use of human dermal wound models for some of these naturally derived wound healing agents, which should be investigated to fully understand the pharmacological potential of these medicinal plants in wound healing.