Abstract
In Africa, medicinal plants have been traditionally used as a source of medicine for centuries. To date, African medicinal plants continue to play a significant role in the treatment of wounds. Chronic wounds are associated with severe healthcare and socio-economic burdens despite the use of conventional therapies. Emergence of novel wound healing strategies using medicinal plants in conjunction with nanotechnology has the potential to develop efficacious wound healing therapeutics with enhanced wound repair mechanisms. This review identified African medicinal plants and biogenic nanoparticles used to promote wound healing through various mechanisms including improved wound contraction and epithelialization as well as antibacterial, antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. To achieve this, electronic databases such as PubMed, Scifinder® and Google Scholar were used to search for medicinal plants used by the African populace that were scientifically evaluated for their wound healing activities in both in vitro and in vivo models from 2004 to 2021. Additionally, data on the wound healing mechanisms of biogenic nanoparticles synthesized using African medicinal plants is included herein. The continued scientific evaluation of wound healing African medicinal plants and the development of novel nanomaterials using these plants is imperative in a bid to alleviate the detrimental effects of chronic wounds.
Highlights
Wounds are defined as injury to living tissue which leads to the disruption of its normal anatomical structure and function [1]
Platelets attach to exposed collagen surfaces and extracellular matrix leading to the activation of the coagulation cascade and clot formation, thereby preventing blood loss [19,20]. This process is mediated by growth factors released by platelets such as Epidermal growth factor (EGF), Plateletderived growth factor (PDGF), Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) and Fibroblast growth factor (FGF)
The African medicinal plants and their biogenic nanoparticles were evaluated for their wound healing activities in both in vitro and in vivo models from 2004 to 2021
Summary
Wounds are defined as injury to living tissue which leads to the disruption of its normal anatomical structure and function [1]. They arise due to physical, chemical, thermal, microbial or immunological damage to the tissue [2]. Wounds have a significant negative impact on the economic and social lives of patients and their families. They cause severe pain, physical disability such as immobility and loss of function, loss of self-esteem, depression and anxiety as well as premature death [7,8]. To our knowledge, there are no statistical records on the prevalence of chronic wounds in Africa
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