Effect of Extracts of Terminalia chebula on Proliferation of Keratinocytes and Fibroblasts Cells: An Alternative Approach for Wound Healing

Terminalia chebula is one of the traditional medicines used in the treatment of many diseases. In the present work, different concentrations of various organic and aqueous extracts (solvent-free) of T. chebula were tested on fibroblast (L929) and keratinocytes cells to evaluate its biocompatible concentration by using MTT and live-dead viability/cytotoxic assay. These extracts were found to be effective in decreasing the ammonia accumulation in the media, thereby reducing its toxic effect on cells. DPPH assay further confirmed the free-radical scavenging ability of the extracts which increased with the increase in concentration of each extract. Cell proliferation/apoptosis, cytoskeletal structure, and ECM production were further evaluated by live-dead assay and phalloidin/cytokeratin staining, respectively. The cytoskeletal structure and ECM secretion of the cells treated with extracts showed higher cellular activity in comparison to control. In conclusion, we have demonstrated the effect of these extracts of T. chebula on both types of skin cells and optimized concentration in which it could be used as a bioactive component for wound healing applications by increasing cell proliferation and decreasing free-radical production without affecting the normal cellular matrix. It can also find applications in other therapeutics applications where ammonia toxicity is a limiting factor.