WOUND HEALING AND ANTIFUNGAL EVALUATIONS OF SOME SURVEYED PLANTS OF GWADABAWA/ILLELA COMMUNITIES OF SOKOTO STATE-NIGERIA

Abstract

Objective: This study aimed to evaluate the wound healing and antifungal properties of five earlier surveyed plants of Gwadabawa and Illela communities of Sokoto State-Nigeria cited for their acclaimed therapeutic purpose.

Methods: Air-dried plant parts species for each plant were extracted by maceration using methanol. These were concentrated in vacuo to obtain crude methanolic extract (CME). The CME was partly defatted and partitioned with n-butanol to solubilize bioactive compounds in the organic phase, leaving sugars, amino acids, and salty compounds in the aqueous phase. The resulting concentrated n-butanol extracts were then screened by subjecting each extract to in vitro antifungal assay for the determination of the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) on Aspergillus niger in a 96-well flat bottom polystyrene microtiter plate using the broth microdilution method as outlined in the 2021 Clinical and Laboratory Standard Institute guideline; while the CME above for each plant, was subjected to wound healing assay using the wound excision model.

Results: Our findings showed all five plant extracts were active with variable antifungal properties of MIC values ranging from 250 to 3.9 (mg/ml). The lowest activity was recorded for Waltheria indica, (with a MIC of 125 mg/ml), while the highest activity was indicated for Faidherbia albida (with a MIC of 3.90625 mg/ml). The other three extracts exhibited moderate activity at test concentration with a MIC of 7.8125 mg/ml. Similarly, the CME showed a comparable wound healing effect for all the plant extracts concerning the control groups (5 mg/ml povidone Iodine, PI as positive control and distilled water, DW as negative control). Increased tissue contraction of lesions on the excised skin of rats was observed to significantly differ accordingly based on the applied treatment with the graded doses of the test sample concentrations used (1.25, 2, and 5) mg/ml. Epithelial closure in all the rats occurred after 14 d, and more so, on the 16^th 16^th-day wounding, the wounds were almost scarless, while those of blank control (DW) had obvious scars.

Conclusion: The wound healing and antifungal potentials of the crude extracts of the selected plants were confirmed. Thus, the five screened plant extracts may possibly be further investigated and developed into drugs for topical treatment of fungal-infected wounds, in line with their earlier folklore documentation.