Introduction: Delayed wound healing represents a common health hazard. Traditional herbal products have been often utilized to promote wound contraction. The current study aimed at assessing the wound healing activity of Opuntia ficus-indica seed oil (OFI) and its self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (OFI-SNEDDS) formula in a rat model of full-thickness skin excision.
Methods: Based on droplet size, an optimized OFI-SNEDDS formula was prepared and used for subsequent evaluation. Wound healing activity of OFI and OFI-SNEDDS was studied in vivo.
Results: The optimized OFI-SNEDDS formula droplet size was 50.02 nm. The formula exhibited superior healing activities as compared to regular OFI seed oil-treated rats at day 14 of wounding. This effect was further confirmed by histopathological examinations of H&E and Masson's Trichrome-stained skin sections. Moreover, OFI-SNEDDS showed the highest antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities as compared to OFI seed oil-treated animals. Both OFI and OFI-SNEDDS significantly enhanced hydroxyproline skin content and upregulated Col1A1 mRNA expression, accompanied by enhanced expression of transforming factor-beta (TGF-β). Further, OFI-SNEDDS improved angiogenesis as evidenced by increased expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
Conclusion: OFI possesses wound healing properties that are enhanced by self-emulsification of the oil into nano-droplets. The observed activity can be attributed, at least partly, to its anti-inflammatory, pro-collagen and angiogenic properties.
Keywords: Opuntia ficus-indica; SNEDDS; TGF-β; VEGF; rats; wound healing.
© 2021 Koshak et al.