Evaluation of the wound healing property of Boesenbergia longiflora rhizomes.

ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The rhizomes of Boesenbergia longiflora (Wall.) Kuntze (Zingiberaceae) have been traditionally used for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, aphthous ulcer and abscess by decoction with alcohol.

AIM OF THE STUDY: The rhizomes of Boesenbergia longiflora were carried out to investigate for anti-inflammatory and wound healing activities in order to support the traditional use.

MATERIAL AND METHODS: The ethanolic extract of Boesenbergia longiflora and its fractions were tested using relevant in vitro anti-inflammatory and wound healing assays. For the in vitro studies, murine macrophage RAW264.7 cells and mouse fibroblast L929 cells were assessed for anti-inflammatory and fibroblast stimulatory activities, respectively. In vivo anti-inflammatory activity was determined by carrageenan-induced rat paw edema model as well as acute toxicity estimated by the up-and-down method in mice.

RESULTS: The present study has demonstrated that the ethanolic extract of Boesenbergia longiflora rhizomes possesses a potent anti-inflammatory and wound healing activities. Among the isolated fractions, the CHCl3 fraction showed potent anti-inflammatory effect through nitric oxide inhibitory activity (IC50=5.5 μg/ml) and reduction of carrageenan-induced rat paw edema (ED50=222.7 mg/kg), whereas this fraction exhibited wound healing property via fibroblast migration on both day 1 (77.3%) and day 2 (100%) as well as enhanced collagen production (187.5 μg/ml) at concentration of 3 μg/ml, compared to that of the controls, 39.4% for fibroblast and 60.8 μg/ml for collagen, respectively. The anti-inflammatory mechanism of the CHCl3 fraction is found to suppress the iNOS and COX-2 mRNA expression.

CONCLUSION: The scientific investigation of wound healing activity of Boesenbergia longiflora rhizomes support the Thai traditional uses for treatment of inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, aphthous ulcer and abscess. The EtOH extract and CHCl3 fraction exert potential wound healing property through NO inhibition, anti-oxidant effect and stimulation of fibroblast migration and collagen production. The phytochemical screening revealed that the CHCl3 fraction of Boesenbergia longiflora rhizomes contains diarylheptanoids, flavonoids and terpenes. The isolation of the compounds responsible for the wound healing effect is now in progress.