In vitro and in vivo wound healing actions of Paullinia pinnata L

Chronic wounds present a major health burden and a drain on resources worldwide. In developing countries however, many of the indigenes rely on natural products to treat their wounds¹ . Paullinia pinnata L. is one of such species used in Ghana. We here report a scientific investigation of this plant in wound healing, using in vitro and in vivo methods. Human dermal fibroblast cell line 142BR was grown in MEM/15%FBS/1% L-glutamine and maintained at 37^°C in a humidified incubator of 5%CO₂:95% air. The effect of different concentrations of P. pinnata methanolic extract on cell proliferation was assessed after a 5 day incubation period using the Neutral Red assay [1]. In vivo activity was evaluated using excision and incision wound models in Sprague-Dawley rats following topical application of 30% w/v of P. pinnata extract [2]. The plant extract caused a significant increase (94%) in 142BR cell line proliferation at 20µg/ml compared to the control. There were also a significant increase in tensile strength and hydroxyproline content of healing tissue as well as a decrease in epithelisation period and scar area, compared to the control.

Acknowledgement: Ghana Government Scholarships Scheme for KA.

References: [1] Houghton, P.J. et al. (2005) J. Ethnopharm. 100: 100–107. [2] Reddy, J.S. et al. (2002) J. Ethnopharmacol. 79: 249–251