WOUND HEALING EFFECTS OF COPAÍFERA SP ESSENTIAL OILS AND CYRTOPODIUM FLAVUM ETHANOLIC EXTRACTS

Abstract

In this study we tested antimicrobial, cytotoxic, and wound healing effects of Copaifera langsdorffii Desf. and Copaifera multijuga Hayne essential oils, as well as root or rhizome ethanol extracts from Cyrtopodium flavum Link & Otto ex Rchb. All these plants have been traditionally used as Brazilian natural products for wound healing. Antimicrobial activity was tested using diffusion assays and minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) tests. All antimicrobial tests were performed in S. aureus, E. coli, and C. albicans cultures. Cytotoxicity was tested in Hepa-1C1C7 cell cultures (MTT incorporation test) and primary cell cultures (Trypan blue viability cell counting). Wound healing was tested in vitro by fibroblast cell migration to scratched areas in cell cultures and in vivo tested by skin wound closing in mice. Despite their common use to treat wounds, this study shows that these plant extracts had different capacities to kill microorganisms, to induce cell proliferation, and to close open wounds. C. langsdorffii essential oil was the only plant extract with antimicrobial, migration, and cellular activation capacity, with very low cytotoxicity. Despite the traditional use of these plant extracts in crude preparations for wound healing purposes, our results supported the use of C. langsdorffii only. Therefore, more studies are needed to isolate the chemical compounds responsible for each of C. langsdorffii effects to guarantee its safer use.