Wound Healing Activity of Topical Herbal Gels Containing Barringtonia acutangula Fruit Extract: In silico and In vivo Studies

Abstract

The current study describes the efficacy of B. acutangula fruit extract in wound healing via incorporation within topical gels. B. acutangula fruit extract was produced by solvent extraction method. The bioactive extract was incorporated within Carbopol 940-based topical gels, which were applied topically over the excision and incision wounds. The change in healing process was observed till 20 days. The percentages of closure of excision wound area were 92.89 % and 93.43 %, when treated with topical herbal gels containing B. acutangula fruit extract of 5 % and 10 %, respectively. The tensile strengths of incision area in rats treated with topical herbal gels containing 5 % and 10 % methanol extract of B. acutangula fruits were found to be 25±5.12 g and 30±4.10 g, respectively. The wound healing activity of topical herbal gels containing B. acutangula fruit extract in rats was found to be significant when compared with that of the reference standard and untreated groups. In addition, in silico studies suggested about good skin permeability and binding to the proteins responsible for delaying wound healing. It can be concluded that this topical herbal gels containing B. acutangula fruit extract could be used clinically for the treatment of wounds.

Keywords: Barringtonia acutangula fruit extract; Herbal products; Topical gels; Wound healing, In silico.