Wound healing activity of the lipophilic extract of Tagetes erecta L.

Abstract

Nowadays, one of the most important problems of clinical care is assisting the healing process in acute and chronic wounds of various origins. Current interest direction of drug therapy is the use of phytomedicines. African marigold is one of the most promising ones to obtain medicine for wound healing. According to literature data, extracts and individual compounds of marigold show antimicrobial, wound healing, antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and analgesic activity. Lipophilic extract of marigold is non-toxic and does not have local irritating and allergic effects. The aim of our research was to study the wound healing activity of the lipophilic extract obtained from the inflorescences of African marigold tall forms of the variety “Hawaii” (Tagetes erecta plena L. var. “Hawaii”). Materials and methods. The lipophilic extract was obtained from inflorescences of Tagetes erecta plena L. by extraction with corn deodorized oil in a ratio of 1:6. The resulting lipophilic extract was standardized for the content of carotenoids and flavonoids. The wound healing effect of the extract was determined based on the example of a simulated burn healing according to the time of perifocal reaction disappearance, skin sloughing, formation of granulation, initiation of marginal epithelialization and the end of healing. The number of animals with completely epithelialized wounds was determined on days 25 and 30 of the experiment. Results. The quantitative content of carotenoids (up to 80.51 ± 1.15 mg% equivalent to β-carotene) and flavonoids (up to 0.7120 ± 0.0060 % equivalent to patuletin) was determined by the lipophilic extract of Tagetes erecta plena L. var. Hawaii standardization. The duration of experimental wounds healing when applying the extract and reference preparation was up to 30.7 ± 1.4 days and 28.0 ± 1.8 days, respectively, which was significantly less than in the control group (up to 47.7 ± 4.0 days). Full epithelization of wounds was observed on day 25 of the experiment in 60 % of the animals receiving the extract, in 70 % of the animals receiving the reference preparation and only in 10 % of the animals which did not receive a treatment. On day 30 of the experiment, this indicator was 80, 90 and 30 %, respectively. The results of the experiment reliably testify to the fact that in animals treated with the studied lipophilic extract, the healing time of burn wounds was significantly less than in the untreated control group animals and practically did not differ from the healing time in animals treated with sea buckthorn oil. Conclusions. The lipophilic extract from inflorescences of Tageta erecta plena L. var. “Hawaji” has been studied for wound healing activity. The stages duration and the time of experimental wounds complete healing in animals receiving the studied extract and reference preparation were significantly reduced in comparison to the control group animals.