RESUMO
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The leaves of Pereskia aculeata Miller (Cactaceae), known as Barbados gooseberry, are used as emollients and to treat skin wounds and inflammatory process in Brazilian traditional medicine. AIM OF THE STUDY: This study investigated the topical wound healing activity of gels containing the methanol extract (ME) and hexane fraction (HF) of the leaves of this plant in a model of excisional wound healing in mice. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Mice were anesthetized and excisional skin wounds were performed using a circular metal punch of 5mm diameter. Next, the animals were treated with 30µL of topical gel formulations containing the gel base (vehicle), HF 5% or ME 5%. The treatments were applied immediately after the injury and every 48h during 14 days. To verify the wound closure kinetics, a digital caliper was used throughout this period. Laser Doppler perfusion image (LDPI) was applied to evaluate the blood flow rate at the injury site. Microscopic examination of the skin tissues was performed by histopathological analysis with hematoxylin and eosin and Gomori trichrome staining. Picrosirius-red staining was also used for morphometric analysis for collagen quantification. RESULTS: Both HF and ME markedly accelerated the closeness of the skin wounds; however the HF activity was more evident, as this fraction induced the increase of blood flow rate and collagen deposition when statistically compared to the vehicle. The mice skin treated with HF and ME also showed less fibroplasia, blood vessels and inflammatory cells on the last day of experiment, which indicated a more advanced wound healing process. CONCLUSIONS: As the wound healing process was considerably accelerated, especially by HF gel formulation, the results of this study not only contributed to better understand the ethnopharmacological application of P. acuelata leaves, but also encouraged further investigations on how to explore the potential uses of this plant in skin therapies.