Wound healing potential of flowers extracts of Woodfordia fruticosa Kurz.

Wound healing or repair is the body's natural process of regenerating dermal and epidermal tissue. Woodfordia fruticosa Kurz (Family: Lythraceae) is used traditionally in wound healing by the tribals of Chhattisgarh district. However, there is a paucity of scientific data in support. In this study, we evaluated antimicrobial activity of petroleum ether, chloroform, ethanolic and aqueous extracts against a diverse range of gram +ve and gram -ve bacteria along with pathogenic fungi. The wound healing activity of ethanolic extract was also evaluated at dose levels of 250 and 500 mg/kg body wt in rats by excision, incision and dead space wound healing models along with histopathology of wound area of skin. The ethanolic extract showed potent wound healing activity, as evident from the increase in the wound contraction and breaking strength in dose-dependent manner. Treatment with ethanolic extract (250 and 500 mg/kg body wt) showed significant dose-dependently decrease in epithelization period and scar area. Hydroxyproline, hexuronic acid and hexosamine contents, the important constituents of extracellular matrix of healing were also correlated with the observed healing pattern. During early wound healing phase, pro-inflammatory cytokines TNF-alpha, IL-6 and anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 levels were found to be upregulated by the ethanolic extract treatment. The ethanolic extract exhibited a strong and broad spectrum antimicrobial activity, as compared to other extracts. It showed very low Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) values and inhibited the growth of E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus and Candida albicans in concentration of 2.5 microg/disc. Thus, the results of the present study demonstrated the strong wound healing potential and antimicrobial activities of W. fruticosa, flowers, supporting the folklore use of the plant by the tribal people of Chhattisgarh district.