Wound healing activity of medicinal plants formulated in Pluronic F127 in rats

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Abstract:

The wound healing effect of the aqueous extracts of Anthocephalus chinesis, Hemidesmus indicus, Quercus infectoria, and the oil of Hibiscus syriacus and Ximenia americana dispersed in water, were examined. The 10% (w/w) Pluronic F127 (PF127) was added to the applied preparations, in order to modify the aqueous extracts viscosity and to stabilize the oil dispersion. Pluronic polyols, a family of widely used surfactants, in very low dosages may be beneficial in early post-surgical wound healing by facilitating early attachment. Synthetic non-ionic surfactants composed of poly (ethylene oxide)–poly(propylene oxide)–poly(ethylene oxide) or (PEO–PPO–PEO) tri-block polymer, widely used in the pharmaceutical formulations. In the present study, Pluronic is used as a vehicle mainly due to its thermogelling property where the vehicle viscosity increases after application to the wound area and preventing its loss by flowing. Pluronic, as a surfactant, also improved the dispersion of the plant extracts/oil in water. A full thickness wound was made in the dorsal area of the rats. The wounds were treated with the different preparations with 12 h intervals for four times in two successive days. For 16 days, the wounds were visually observed, photographically documented and the wound area was calculated by dividing each wound area by the average control wound area measured at the same day. After day 16, the animals were sacrificed and the histology of the wound area was examined. In conclusion, while plant based traditional medicine has been used throughout generations, the efficacy of such treatments requires experimental backup and scientific verification. The best wound healing activity was observed with the extract of Anthocephalus chinesis, followed by Ximenia americana, Hemidesmus indicus, Quercus infectoria, and the least active extract was that of Hibiscus syriacus.