Wound Healing and Anti-Infective Properties of Myrianthus arboreus and Alchornea cordifolia

Abstract

Myrianthus arboreus P. Beauv. (Cecropiaceae) and Alchornea cordifolia (Schum. & Thonn.) Muel. Arg.\r(Euphorbiaceae) are tropical plants used for the treatment of ailments such as diarrhoea, malaria, boils, dysentery,\rwounds and skin infections. The study investigated the antimicrobial, antioxidant and wound healing properties of\rmethanol leaf extract of M. arboreus (MLMA), aqueous (AqLAC) and ethanol leaf extracts (ELAC) of A. cordifolia.\rThe antimicrobial activity of the extracts was examined using the agar diffusion and micro-dilution methods against\rEscherichia coli ATCC 25922, Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCC 4853, Staphylococcus aureus ATCC 25923, Bacillus\rsubtilis NTCC 10073 and clinical strain of Candida albicans. Antioxidant property of the extracts was determined by\rDPPH method and wound healing property of the extracts determined using excision wound model. MLMA exhibited\ractivity against S. aureus, B.subtilis, E. coli, P. aeruginosa and C. albicans with MIC values of 8.0, 6.0, 8.0, 10.0 and\r6.0 mg/mL, respectively. ELAC showed good antimicrobial activity against S. aureus, B.subtilis, E. coli, P. aeruginosa\rand C. albicans with MICs of 3.0, 4.0, 6.0, 4.0 and 4.0 mg/mL respectively; and AqACL had MICs of 2.5, 3.0, 10.0,\r4.0 and 3.0 mg/mL, respectively. The IC50 of MLMA, AqACL and ELAC were 2.68, 0.79, 0.78 µg/mL respectively. The\rextracts (5% w/w AqACL and 10% w/w MMAL extract creams) showed potent wound healing capacity with better\rwound closure (p<0.05) at day 1 and day 9 (p<0.001) compared with untreated wounds. Histological investigations\rshowed enhanced wound tissue proliferation, fibrosis and re-epithelization compared with the untreated wound\rtissues. Phytochemical screening of extracts revealed the presence of tannins, alkaloids, glycosides, terpenoids and\rflavonoids. The biological activities of the extracts from the two plants may justify their uses in treatment for microbial\rinfections and wounds.