In vivo wound healing and antimicrobial activity of Alkanna strigose

Abstract

Several plant preparations and extracts are used in folk medicine for treatment of topical wounds. Yet the validity of their use as well as the mechanism has not been ascertained in well-designed experimental settings. The wound healing activity of a topical hexane extract of Alkanna strigosa roots (HEASR) in excision and incision wound models in rats was evaluated. The pro-healing activity was assessed by the rate of wound contraction & wet granulation tissue weight and tensile strength in the excision and incision models, respectively.

The active components of HEASR were isolated. Finally, the antimicrobial activity against five microorganisms; namely Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Escherichia coli, Bacillus subtilis and Candida albicans were assessed for both crude extract and pure compounds.

The HEASR increased the weight of wet granulation tissue per wound area and tensile strength of wounds, and showed antimicrobial activity against Gram-positive bacteria and C. albicans. The pure compounds were alkanin & shikonin and showed remarkable activity against S. aureus, E. coli and B. subtilis. The results document the beneficial effect of A. strigosa extract and its pure compounds for treating the supurative excision as well as the incision wounds.