The effect of a topical ointment containing methanol extract of Buxus hyrcana Pojark. leaves on cutaneous wound healing in rats

Buxus hyrcana Pojark. has been traditionally used for the treatment of skin disorders including wound injuries and recent studies have shown the therapeutic potential of some Buxus species in healing skin wounds. In this study, the effect of an ointment containing methanolic extract of B. hyrcana leaves was evaluated on the full-thickness wound healing in a rat model.

The full-thickness wound was made with a scalpel on the dorsum cervical area of 32 Wistar rats (weighing 250-300 g). The animals were randomly divided into four groups: I; control, II; ointment base (eucerin), III; 1 % phenytoin cream, and IV; 5 % B. hyrcana methanolic extract ointment. For histopathological assessment, wound criteria were evaluated on the 12th day of treatment according to the Abramov score method. The collagen fiber deposition in the skin tissue was determined using Masson’s trichrome staining. The spectrophotometric analysis was performed to evaluate the total phenol and total flavonoid content of the extract.

Based on macroscopic observations, herbal ointment increased wound closure in the treatment group compared to the control group. In this way, the collagen deposition, epidermal and keratin formation, neovascularization, and fibroblast maturation increased significantly (P<0.05) with the herbal ointment, the same as the phenytoin group. The extract did not show any antimicrobial effect using the disc agar diffusion method.

The observed wound-healing effect of B. hyrcana seems to be mainly due to the presence of flavonoid compounds in the plant extract.