EVALUATION OF PERSEA AMERICANA L. LEAF EXTRACT FOR WOUND HEALING ACTIVITY- A PRECLINICAL STUDY IN RATS
*B. Shivananda Nayak1, Ria Ramadeen1, S. Sivachandra Raju2
1Department of Pre Clinical Sciences, Biochemistry Unit, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad.
2Department of Pharmacology, RAK Medical and Health Sciences University, Ras Al Khaimah, UAE.
ABSTRACT
We evaluated the wound healing activity of leaf extract of P.
americana in rats. The wound healing activity of the extract of P.
americana extract was determined in rats (topical application of 100
mg/kg/day) using excision wounds models. The animals were divided
into three groups of 6 each. The experimental group animals were
treated with the ethanolic extract of P. americana, standard group
animals were treated with mupirocin ointment (10%), and the control
group animals were applied with petroleum jelly. Healing was
assessed by the rate of wound contraction, period of epithelialization
and hydoxyproline content. On day 13 the tissue was excised from the
healed area for histological and hydroxyproline determination. The
extract-treated animals exhibited 86% reduction in the wound area
when compared to controls (67%) standard (81%). The extract treated
wounds were found to epithelize faster than controls (P< 0.001). The
hydroxyproline content of the tissue obtained from experimental animals was significantly
higher. The histological examination of tissue from experimental group animals showed
abundant well organized collagen. Wound contraction together with the hydroxyproline
content and histological findings support the use of P. americana leaf in the management of cut wounds.
Keywords: Persea americana, Excision wound, Hydroxyproline, Collagen.
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