Pereskia aculeata Miller leaves accelerate excisional wound healing in mice.
BACKGROUND
The leaves of Pereskia aculeata Miller (Cactaceae), known as Barbados gooseberry, are used as emollients and to treat skin wounds and inflammatory process in Brazilian traditional medicine.


OBJECTIVE
This study investigated the topical wound healing activity of gels containing the methanol extract (ME) and hexane fraction (HF) of the leaves of this plant in a model of excisional wound healing in mice.


METHODS
Mice were anesthetized and excisional skin wounds were performed using a circular metal punch of 5mm diameter. Next, the animals were treated with 30µL of topical gel formulations containing the gel base (vehicle), HF 5% or ME 5%. The treatments were applied immediately after the injury and every 48h during 14 days. To verify the wound closure kinetics, a digital caliper was used throughout this period. Laser Doppler perfusion image (LDPI) was applied to evaluate the blood flow rate at the injury site. Microscopic examination of the skin tissues was performed by histopathological analysis with hematoxylin and eosin and Gomori trichrome staining. Picrosirius-red staining was also used for morphometric analysis for collagen quantification.


RESULTS
Both HF and ME markedly accelerated the closeness of the skin wounds; however the HF activity was more evident, as this fraction induced the increase of blood flow rate and collagen deposition when statistically compared to the vehicle. The mice skin treated with HF and ME also showed less fibroplasia, blood vessels and inflammatory cells on the last day of experiment, which indicated a more advanced wound healing process.


CONCLUSIONS
As the wound healing process was considerably accelerated, especially by HF gel formulation, the results of this study not only contributed to better understand the ethnopharmacological application of P. acuelata leaves, but also encouraged further investigations on how to explore the potential uses of this plant in skin therapies.
Laboratory of Bioactive Natural Products. Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Biological Science, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036 900, MG, Brazil.
Nícolas de Castro Campos
NC
Pinto
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, MG, Brazil.
Puebla
P
Cassini-Vieira
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, MG, Brazil.
Elaine Maria de
EM
Souza-Fagundes
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte 31270-901, MG, Brazil.
Lucíola Silva
LS
Barcelos
Department of Morphologyk, Institute of Biological Sciences, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, 36036 900 Juiz de Fora, MG, Brazil.
Maria Christina Marques Nogueira
MC
Castañon
Laboratory of Bioactive Natural Products. Department of Biochemistry, Institute of Biological Science, Federal University of Juiz de Fora, Juiz de Fora 36036 900, MG, Brazil. Electronic address: elita.scio@ufjf.edu.br.
Elita
E
Scio
D000818:Animals; D001938:Brazil; D029421:Cactaceae; D008297:Male; D008519:Medicine, Traditional; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D018515:Plant Leaves; D014945:Wound Healing
(PubChem CID: 92097); Campesterol (PubChem CID: 173183); Collagen; Gel formulation; Glycerin (PubChem CID: 753); Herbal medicine; Hydroxyethylcellulose (PubChem CID: 24846132); Methylparaben (PubChem CID: 7456); Pereskia aculeata; Sitosterol (PubChem CID: 222284); Sodium lauryl sulfate (PubChem CID: 3423265); Stigmasterol (PubChem CID: 5280794); Wound healing