title: Wound-healing potential of an ethanol extract of Carica papaya (Caricaceae) seeds.
abstract: Carica papaya L. (Linn) (Caricaceae) is traditionally used to treat various skin disorders, including wounds. It is widely used in developing countries as an effective and readily available treatment for various wounds, particularly burns. This study evaluated the wound-healing and antimicrobial activity of C. papaya seed extract. Ethanol extract of C. papaya seed (50 mg/kg/day) was evaluated for its wound-healing activity in Sprague-Dawley rats using excision wound model. Animals were randomly divided into four groups of six each (group 1 served as control, group 2 treated with papaya seed extract, group 3 treated with a standard drug mupirocin and papaya seed extract (1:1 ratio) and group 4 treated with a mupirocin ointment. Rate of wound contraction and hydroxyproline content were determined to assess the wound-healing activity of the seed extract. The group 2 animals showed a significant decrease in wound area of 89% over 13 days when compared with groups 1 (82%), 3 (86%) and 4 (84%) respectively. The hydroxyproline content was significantly higher with the granulation tissue obtained from group 2 animals which were treated with C. papaya seed extract. Histological analysis of granulation tissue of the group 2 animals showed the deposition of well-organized collagen. The extract exhibited antimicrobial activity against Salmonella choleraesuis and Staphylococcus aureus. Our results suggest that C. papaya promotes significant wound healing in rats and further evaluation for this activity in humans is suggested.
authors.affiliation: Department of Preclinical Sciences, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine. shivananda.nayak@sta.uwi.edu
authors.forename: Bijoor Shivananda
authors.initials: BS
authors.lastname: Nayak
authors.forename: Ria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Ramdeen
authors.forename: Andrew
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Adogwa
authors.forename: Adash
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Ramsubhag
authors.forename: Julien Rhodney
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Marshall
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D029441:Carica / Q000737:chemistry*; D003094:Collagen / Q000032:analysis; D000431:Ethanol; D006097:Granulation Tissue / Q000737:chemistry; D006909:Hydroxyproline / Q000032:analysis; D008297:Male; D010936:Plant Extracts / Q000494:pharmacology*; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012475:Salmonella / Q000187:drug effects; D012639:Seeds / Q000737:chemistry; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000187:drug effects; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D010936:Plant Extracts; D000431:Ethanol; D003094:Collagen; D006909:Hydroxyproline