In vitro EVALUATION OF THE HEALING AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITY OF EXTRACTS OF Buddleja cordata KUNTH AND Vismia baccifera (L.) TRIANA & PLANCH

Abstract

The skin is the largest organ in human body and it has various functions as a protective barrier. This can be affected by lesions that interrupt the continuity of its structure; and by microbial infections that retard the healing process. In traditional medicine, a wide variety of plants is used for wound treatment by infusions, decoctions or poultices. Two species distributed in Mexico that have ethnomedicinal reports for this purpose are Buddleja cordata Kunth (tepozán) and Vismia baccifera (L.) Triana & Planch (chotillo). The objective of this study was to evaluate in vitro the potential of these species to promote wound healing and as antibacterial agents against Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The organic extracts from leaves of both species were evaluated using an in vitro model of cell monolayer wound and in a microdilution model against P. aeruginosa. The possible cytotoxic effect of the extracts was also evaluated in vitro through a tetrazolium salt reduction assay. The dichloromethanemethanol extract of tepozán at 50 μg mL^-1 significantly increased (35 %) wound closure in cell monolayer. The effect may be due to verbascoside, a compound with wound healing activity previously identified in polar extracts of tepozán leaves. The extracts of V. baccifera did not increase the rate of repair in the in vitro wound model used. None of the evaluated extracts of both species showed cytotoxic effect (up to 100 μg mL^-1); the growth of P. aeruginosa was not inhibited either (up to 1000 μg mL^-1). Results suggest that the popular use of tepozán for the treatment of wounds has scientific support, but it is still necessary to deepen its chemical and pharmacological studies in vivo.