Investigation of wound healing activity of Lafoensia pacari (Lythraceae) leaves extract cultivated in Goiás state, Brazil

Abstract

Lafoensia pacari has been used in traditional folk medicine in Brazilian Cerrado to treat wounds. It is important to develop studies that can clarify how the biological activity of L. pacari occurs. The aim of this study was to evaluate the healing activity of L. pacari leaves extract in an animal model. The extract was prepared from plants cultivated in Goiania-GO, Brazil. The healing activity was assayed using cutaneous wound model in rats, and macroscopic, morphometric and histological analysis of wounds were also conducted. The presence of hydrolysable tannins was detected in thin layer chromatography and in high performance liquid chromatography analysis, may be suggested the presence of ellagitannins. In the evaluation of cutaneous wounds in rats it was possible to observe that the treatment with 10% (w/v) L. pacari extract provided a reduction in the time of cutaneous wound healing, with a significant increase in variables involved in healing, such as the number of blood vessels and collagen production. Therefore, this study shows that L. pacari wound healing potential may be related to the presence of ellagitannins and corroborates to ethnopharmacological reports regarding this plant.

Key words:
bioactivity; Cerrado; medicinal plant; tannin