Wound Healing Activity of Opuntia ficus-indica Fixed Oil Formulated in a Self-Nanoemulsifying Formulation

• Published in: International journal of nanomedicine 2021-01, Vol.16, p.3889-3905
• Main Authors: Koshak, Abdulrahman E, Algandaby, Mardi M, Mujallid, Mohammad I, Abdel-Naim, Ashraf B, Alhakamy, Nabil A, Fahmy, Usama A, Alfarsi, Anas, Badr-Eldin, Shaimaa M, Neamatallah, Thikryat, Nasrullah, Mohammed Z, M Abdallah, Hossam, Esmat, Ahmed
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - administration & dosage; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal - pharmacology; Antioxidants - administration & dosage; Antioxidants - chemistry; Antioxidants - pharmacology; Care and treatment; Collagen Type I - genetics; Collagen Type I, alpha 1 Chain; Drug Delivery Systems; Drugs; Emulsions - chemistry; Emulsions - pharmacology; Health aspects; Herbal medicine; Hydroxyproline - metabolism; Male; Medicine, Botanic; Medicine, Herbal; Opuntia - chemistry; opuntia ficus-indica; Original Research; Phytochemicals; Plant Oils - administration & dosage; Plant Oils - chemistry; Plant Oils - pharmacology; Rats; Rats, Wistar; Seeds; Seeds - chemistry; Skin; Skin - drug effects; Skin - metabolism; snedds; tgf-β; Transforming Growth Factor beta - genetics; Transforming Growth Factor beta - metabolism; Transforming growth factors; Vascular endothelial growth factor; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A - metabolism; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A - pharmacology; vegf; Vehicles; Wound healing; Wound Healing - drug effects; Wound Healing - genetics; Wounds and injuries
• ISSN: 1178-2013; 1176-9114; 1178-2013
• DOI: 10.2147/IJN.S299696

Delayed wound healing represents a common health hazard. Traditional herbal products have been often utilized to promote wound contraction. The current study aimed at assessing the wound healing activity of seed oil (OFI) and its self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (OFI-SNEDDS) formula in a rat model of full-thickness skin excision. Based on droplet size, an optimized OFI-SNEDDS formula was prepared and used for subsequent evaluation. Wound healing activity of OFI and OFI-SNEDDS was studied in vivo. The optimized OFI-SNEDDS formula droplet size was 50.02 nm. The formula exhibited superior healing activities as compared to regular OFI seed oil-treated rats at day 14 of wounding. This effect was further confirmed by histopathological examinations of H&E and Masson's Trichrome-stained skin sections. Moreover, OFI-SNEDDS showed the highest antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities as compared to OFI seed oil-treated animals. Both OFI and OFI-SNEDDS significantly enhanced hydroxyproline skin content and upregulated Col1A1 mRNA expression, accompanied by enhanced expression of transforming factor-beta (TGF-β). Further, OFI-SNEDDS improved angiogenesis as evidenced by increased expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). OFI possesses wound healing properties that are enhanced by self-emulsification of the oil into nano-droplets. The observed activity can be attributed, at least partly, to its anti-inflammatory, pro-collagen and angiogenic properties.