Wound Healing Property of Topical Application of Ethanolic Extract of Michelia champaca Flowers in Diabetic Rats

Background: The plant Michelia champaca (MC) is widely used in the treatment of inflammation, constipation, dysmenorrhea, ulcers, wounds, fever and cough. The objective of the study was to evaluate the wound healing property of topical application of ethanolic extract of MC flowers in streptozotocin induced diabetes in rats. Materials and Methods: Wound healing activity was assessed by incision and excision wound models. Five groups of 10 rats each were used for each of incision and excision wound model. Group I rats, non-diabetic control and group II rats diabetic control, were anointed topically with ointment base. The diabetic rats in test groups III, IV and V were anointed with topical MC extract ointment of 2.5%, 5% and 10% respectively. Parameters observed were breaking strength of incision wound and wound contraction, epithelialization, hydroxyproline content of excision wound respec-tively. Results were analyzed by one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), followed by Tukey’s post hoc test. Results: Breaking strength, rate of wound contraction and hydroxyproline content were significantly increased and period of epithelialization was significantly reduced in Group IV and V rats respectively. Conclusion: The topical application of ethanolic extract of Michelia champaca promotes wound healing in diabetic rats. Hence further study in humans is suggested.