Wound Healing Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Aerial and Root Part of Leptadenia Pyrotechnica (forsk.) Decne

The ethanolic extracts of aerial and root part of Leptadenia pyrotechnica Plant(Family: Asclepiadaceae), ethnomedicinallyused for the treatment of wounds by the local people of Thar desert, were separately evaluated for wound healing activity on excision wound model, in Wistar albino rats, in the form of an ointment with a concentration (4 % w/w ointment) in simple ointment base. Framycetin sulphate cream (1% w/w) was used as standard drug. The rate of wound healing was assessed by the rate of wound closure and period of epithelialisation. Both the extracts showed significant response in wound healing when compared with the control group. KEY WORDSWound healing, Epithelialisation, and Leptadenia pyrotechnica *corresponding author NOEL RAHUL SHAW Department of Quality Assurance, Faculty of Pharmacy, Lachoo Memorial College of Science & Technology, Jodhpur, Rajasthan, India Int J Pharm Bio Sci 2014 Jan; 5(1): (P) 671 675 This article can be downloaded from www.ijpbs.net P 672 INTRODUCTION Medicinal plants have been used since time immemorial for treatment of various diseases. Plants represent a large source of structurally novel compounds that might serve as leads for the development of novel drugs nutraceuticals and functional foods. There is an increasing interest in naturally occurring antioxidants to replace synthetic counterparts used for food preservation, flavoring, and cosmetics, as well as in health promotion. Polyphenolic substances, which are largely found in most plants, exhibit a wide range of biological effects including anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-cancer effects. Wound healing, as a normal biological process in the human body is achieved through four precisely and highly programmed phases: hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. For a wound to heal successfully, all four phases must occur in the proper sequence and time frame. Many factors can interfere with one or more phases of this process, thus causing improper or impaired wound healing. Some common plants like Aloe vera, Carica papaya, Centella asiatica, Cinnamomum zeylinicum, Cucurma longa, Plumbago zeylinica,Pterocarpus santalinus and Termanalia arjuna have been reported in Ayurveda, Sidda and Unani systems of medicines for their wound healing potential . Leptadenia pyrotechnica (Forssk.) Decne, commonly known as khimp belonging to the family Asclepiadaceae, is widespread in Indian desert, tropical Africa, Asia and the Mediterranean region and in the sandy plains in the Western Gulf countries. It is an erect, much branched, often leafless, erect shrub. It is commonly used for the treatment of a variety of inflammation related disease including rheumatism, asthma, and tumors. Extracted milk of plant is used against psoriasis (skin disease). A survey of literature revealed that plant is ethnomedicinally used for the treatment of wounds by the local people of Thardesert. The plant yields a fibre which is used in indigenous medicines as anantihistaminic and expectorant..However, no scientific study on the wound healing activity of the plant has been reported to validate the folklore claims of this property. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of ethanolic extract of aerial and root part of Leptadenia pyrotechnica on different parameters related to wound healing activity in Wistaralbino rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS Plant material Aerial and root parts of the plant Leptadenia pyrotechnica were collected from the desert of Jodhpur region and identified and authenticated at Botanical Survey of India, Jodhpur by the botanist by Dr. P.J. Parmar. A voucher specimen No.847550 has been deposited in our laboratory for further reference. Preparation of extract Powdered aerial and root parts separately; extracted with petroleum ether (40-60C) and ethanol in the Soxhlet extractor. The ethanolic extracts were evaporated to vacuo and the extracts were subjected to phytochemical screening and wound healing activity. Preparation of Ointment The drug formulations with concentration of (4% w/w) were prepared, where 4 g of the extract was incorporated in 100 g simple ointment base I.P. Framycetin sulphate cream (1% w/w) was used as standard drug, for comparing the wound healing potential of the extracts in animal model. Animals Healthy Wistar albino rats of either sex weighing 150-200g were used. They were housed in Polysulfone polycarbonated plastic rodent cage maintained at an ambient room temperature of (27±3oC), 12 h light/dark cycle and fed with rodent diet of altromin pellet and distilled water ad libitum. The animals were used after an acclimatization period of seven days to the laboratory environment. All the experimental procedures and protocol used in this study were reviewed and approved by the Institutional Int J Pharm Bio Sci 2014 Jan; 5(1): (P) 671 675 This article can be downloaded from www.ijpbs.net P 673 Animal Ethical Committee (IAEC), Lachoo Memorial College of Science and Technology, Pharmacy Wing, Jodhpur (CPCSEA Reg.No. 541/02/C/CPCSEA) Excision wound 8-12 The wound healing activity was investigated in ether anaesthetized rats in excision wound models, for aerial and root extracts at concentration 4% w/w. The animals were divided into four groups of six animals each. The group I was considered as control (treated with simple ointment base IP), the group II was standard and treated with Framycetin sulphate cream (1% w/w). The group III animals were treated with 4% w/w ethanolic extract ointment of aerial part and the group IV animals were treated with 4% w/w of ethanolic extract ointment of root. Animals were anaesthetized with ether and shaved on part to be exposed. A circular piece (500 mm area) was impressed on the dorsal thoracic region 5cm away from ears and 1 cm away from the vertebral column. The animals were individually housed in separate cages. The test and standard preparation were topically applied once a day till epithelialization was complete, starting from the day of the operation. The wounds were traced on 1 mm graph paper on the day of wounding and then subsequently on the 4, 8, 12 and 16 post wounding days and thereafter on subsequent days till the healing was complete. The parameters studied were percentage of wound contraction or wound closure and period of epithelialization. Epithelialization time was noted as a number of days after wounding required for the scar to fall off leaving no raw wound behind. STATISTICAL ANALYSIS The results were expressed as mean ±SEM of six animals in each group. The data were evaluated by ANOVA followed by Dunnet’s test and the values of P<0.01 were considered statistically significant.