In vitro wound healing effects of combinations of Aloe vera gel with different extracts of Bulbine frutescens

Many skin conditions, including wounds, have been treated traditionally with plant-based medicines such as Aloe vera and Bulbine frutescens. The gel from the leaves of A. vera has shown potential in burn wound treat-ment and other skin conditions, while B. frutescens exhibited accelerated wound healing properties in previ-ous in vitro and in vivo studies. This study investigated whether the skin wound healing properties of A. vera gel could be enhanced by combining it with each of two different B. frutescens extracts (aqueous and gel). Firstly, the in vitro cytotoxicity of the selected plant materials was measured on HaCaT and 84BR cells by means of methylthiazol tetrazolium (MTT) assays. The in vitro re-epithelialization potential or wound healing properties were determined by means of the scratch assay on HaCaT cell layers. The wound closure percent-age and migration rate values were measured in an untreated control group as well as after 24 h treatment with the individual plant materials as well as combinations thereof. The scratch assay results showed that the wound closure percentage and migration rate values for each of the selected plant materials individually were higher than that of the untreated control group. When A. vera gel (0.25 mg/ml) was combined with B. frutescens aqueous extract in three different concentrations (0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 mg/ml), all the combination ratios exhibited higher wound closure percentage and migration rate values than that of the control group and it was also higher than the effects of each individual plant material alone. On the other hand, combina-tion of A. vera gel with B. frutescens gel extract did not show increased wound healing effects as compared to that of the control group nor the individual plant materials. It can be concluded that the wound healing prop-erties of A. vera gel can be increased by combining it with B. frutescens aqueous extract.(c) 2023 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of SAAB. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Automated summary

The study found that combining Aloe vera gel with Bulbine frutescens aqueous extract can enhance the wound healing properties of Aloe vera gel.