Abstract

INVESTIGATION OF THE WOUND HEALING ACTIVITY OF OINTMENT FORMULATED WITH AQUEOUS LEAVES EXTRACT OF CHROMOLAENA ODORATA ON MALE WISTAR RATS

Ordu John I.* and Okoye Ujunwa Stephanie

ABSTRACT

The use of herbs for wound healing has long been in practice hence the aqueous leaf extract of Chromolaena odorata plant was formulated into ointment and this was evaluated for the wound healing activities on male Wistar albino rats and made comparable to a reference (penicillin ointment from Drugfield Pharmaceuticals). Twelve rats divided into 3 groups of four were acclimatized and fed ad libitum. Preliminary studies were conducted to determine concentration dependence, efficacy and stability of the extract formulation into an ointment for wound healing. The formulated ointment was characterized for appearance, pH, spreadabilty, viscosity and dispersibilty in water and propylene glycol. The ointment formed was brownish in color with a pH of 10.8, spreadabilty (0.5cm/minutes), viscosity (592Cp) and observed to be slightly dispersible in aqueous medium and propylene glycol. Wound size of 1.6-2.0cm was inflicted on the rats and the crude extract, the formulated ointment and the penicillin ointment were applied on the affected part and observed for their impact on wound healing. The test samples healed the wounds on the rats, with the undiluted crude extract showing the highest efficacy, followed by the formulated ointment at 0.28%w/w leaf extract and finally the Penicillin ointment. Outcome of the study therefore, revealed that the crude leaves extract and the formed ointment containing aqueous leaf extract of C. odorata possess better wound healing property compared to the reference sample (penicillin ointment).

Keywords: Wound healing, Aqueous extract, Chromolaena odorata, ointment.