Development of a topical herbal ointment for wound management from an aqueous extract of Plectranthus Cyaneus.

Abstract

Background: Traditional medicinal plants have been used over the years for the treatment of health problems including wound management of both septic and ulcerated wounds. Aqueous extract of Plectranthus Cyaneus exhibit medicinal properties such as presence of the various phytochemicals like flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins and tannins exhibit wound healing properties.

Aim of the study: The main objective of the study was to formulate a safe and efficacious herbal ointment for wound management from Plectranthus cyaneus extract.

Materials and methods: The efficacy of the formulated PleC Herbal Ointment from aqueous Plectranthus Cyaneus leaf extracts embedded in Simple Ointment BP (negative control) was compared with that of Mebo ointment (positive control) and simple ointment BP. The excision wound model was employed for wound healing activity in albino rats. Healthy rats (100-150g) were taken for the excision wound model. The rats were divided into five groups; different concentrations of the extract were administered to 6 rats, positive control was applied to 2 rats, negative control was applied to 2 rats, PleC Herbal Ointment was applied to 2 rats, dermal safety studies (skin irritation) was experimented with 3 rats. All rats had free access to pelleted food and water. The results were expressed as average wound area (mm2) .The significance of differences at P<0.05, between the means was analyzed using one-way ANOVA.

Results: By day 12, wound contraction of 88.25% was observed with positive control, 85.2% with PleC Herbal Ointment and 69.3% with the negative control.

Conclusions: The ointment is effective for wound healing as it exhibited significant wound healing properties relatively as compared to Mebo ointment. The healing activity may be attributed to the various phytochemicals such as flavonoids, terpenoids, saponins and tannins.

Recommendation: Improvements should be done on the texture of the PleC Herbal Ointment. Studies to be done on other topical dosage forms such as cream, lotion, paste to compare with PleC Herbal Ointment.