Abstract:
Background: Wounds have a significant impact on individuals' quality of life and impose a substantial
clinical and financial burden on healthcare systems globally. Many existing wound treatment drugs are
associated with issues such as allergies and drug resistance. Ethno-botanical surveys of medicinal plants
have indicated the potential use of Terminalia brownii Fresen stem bark for wound management. Despite
this, there are no published scientific studies assessing this plant's efficacy in treating wounds. The aim of
this study was to assess the wound healing properties of the hydro-methanolic crude extract and solvent
fractions derived from the stem bark of T. brownii in mice.
Methods: The stem bark of T. brownii was collected, dried, grounded, and extracted using 80% methanol
through three consecutive macerations. For the acute dermal toxicity test, 2000mg/kg of 10% (w/w) crude
extract ointment was topically applied. Two different doses, 5% and 10% w/w, of the 80% methanol crude
extract and solvent fractions (n-hexane, ethyl acetate, and aqueous) were combined with a simple ointment
formulation. The wound healing activity of the extract was evaluated using excision, incision, and burn
wound models, while only the excision wound model was used for the fractions. The assessment of wound
healing progress parameters such as wound contraction, period of epithelialization, and histopathological
study for the excision and burn wound models, whereas tensile strength for the incision model were
measured.
Result: A dose of 2000 mg/kg of the 10% extract did not display any signs of dermal toxicity in mice. Both
the 5% and 10% crude extracts demonstrated substantial wound healing activity compared to the simple
ointment. This was shown by an increase in the percentage of wound contraction and a decrease in the
period of epithelialization (p < 0.001). In the case of burn and excision wounds, the group treated with the
10% extract exhibited higher collagen density and fibroblast proliferation. Additionally, both the 5% and
10% extract ointments led to a significant increase in tensile strength (p < 0.001) compared to the simple
ointment and untreated groups. In terms of the solvent fractions, the 10% (w/w) aqueous and ethyl acetate
fractions demonstrated notable wound contraction (p < 0.001) compared to the n-hexane fractions and
simple ointment.
Conclusion: The findings of this study demonstrated that the 80% methanol extract and the Aqueous and
Ethyl acetate fractions of the stem bark of Terminalia brownii, exhibited wound-healing properties, thereby
substantiating traditional claims
