The in vivo effects of Verbascum speciosum on wound healing

Abstract

Wound healing is a well-orchestrated and tightly controlled process in which several cell types, cytokines and growth factor take place in an orderly fashion. Any break in the process would cause delay in healing which would increase hospitalization time, cost, mortality and morbidity. Scientists and clinicians are trying to find effective, safe and cheap methods to treat and manage acute and non-healing chronic wounds. Medicinal plants, in this line, have been widely investigated, and gained remarkable attention in this field due to having vital therapeutic molecules. In the current study, methanol extract of Verbascum speciosum leaves, collected in 2014 from Trabzon, Turkey, was integrated into a vaseline-based cream and tested on full-thickness wounds in vivo. The results revealed that 5% (w/v) and 10% (w/v) extract containing cream treated rats displayed significantly higher wound contraction compared to non-treated and base cream applied animals as evident by macroscopical analysis. However, no difference were found in histological examinations among the groups in terms of inflammatory cell infiltration, fibroblast density, collagen deposition and angiogenesis. Further studies are highly warranted in order to arrange dose and formulation of the plant extract and to understand the molecular mechanism for potential wound healing promoting activity. (C) 2018 SAAB. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.