Assessment of wound-healing, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities of Helichrysum graveolens (Bieb.) Sweet

Helichrysum graveolens (Bieb.) Sweet is used for the treatment of jaundice, as a wound-healing and diuretic agent in Turkish folk medicine. In order to prove the claimed utilization of the plant, effects of the extracts and the fractions were investigated by using the in vivo linear incision and circular excision wound models. Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities, which are correlated to wound healing activity, were also evaluated by the 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical-scavenging assay and the acetic acid-induced increased vascular permeability model, respectively. The methanolic extract, which demonstrated potent effect on above-mentioned models, was then subjected to successive solvent extraction with n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate and n-butanol. Each solvent extract was also applied on the same experimental models. The results of the histopathological examination also supported the outcome of both incision and excision wound models. Bioassay-guided fractionation, and thorough phytochemical analysis led to the determination of active principle/s.