Exploring Echinacea purpurea ’s effect on wound healing in rats: FOXO1/MIP2 pathway modulation

AbstractThe extracellular matrix (ECM) is a crucial component in all human tissues. During injury, the ECM is damaged; wound healing phases as hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling result in ECM synthesized and return to its native state.Echinacea purpurea is one of the most important medicinal herbs and is well-known for its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immunomodulatory activities. The main aim of this research was to investigate the anti-inflammatory and wound-healing properties ofEchinacea treatment in rats due to the need for more scientific evidence regarding the efficacy of this medicinal plant on wounds. To accomplish the aim of the study, 40 rats were split into five groups, with each group consisting of eight rats. The normal group comprised healthy rats and served as the negative control group, while the control group was subjected to skin excision, 1-cm-diameter round incisions were created with a sterile biopsy punch needle and served as control wounds. The third group was treated with 5% of a commercial product (Mebo®) in vaseline, while the fourth and fifth groups were treated withEchinacea (2.5% and 5%, daily) in a vaseline base. The therapeutic effect ofEchinacea was evaluated by assessment of the wound content of NRF2, FOXO1, TGF- β, collagen type I, SMA-α, MMP-2, TIMP-1, and MIP2. Evaluation of wound healing activity ofEchinacea purpurea showed a significant reduction in wound size in rats. Moreover, it caused a significant increa...
Source: Comparative Clinical Pathology - Category: Pathology Source Type: research