Metabolic Profile Elucidation of Ventilago calyculata Aqueous Extract Attenuating Sequelae of Aspirin Retarded Wound Healing

Background: Impaired wound healing due to aspirin is a common cause of delay in healing. Ventilago calyculata Tul. (Rhamnaceae) is used extensively in the Indian traditional medicines for skin problems. Objective: The objective of this work was to test the potential of formulations prepared from the extracts of V. calyculata against aspirin-retarded wound healing in rats and investigate the probable mechanism of action. Materials and Methods: The effect of topical administration of fractionates of V. calyculata against aspirin-delayed wound healing was assessed in Wistar albino rats. The chemo-profiling (liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy [LC-MS]) of the extract with the most potent wound healing activity was carried out. Further, the mechanism of the most potent Ventilago calyculata aqueous extract (VCA) was determined by viability and plasma membrane integrity assays in H2O2-challenged wild type Saccharomyces cerevisiae BY4743) and knock-out strain (Delta trx2) strains. Results:The results of our investigations showed that in excision wound model; all formulations had statistically significant (P < 0.01) wound healing activity compared to the negative control. However, aqueous extract treatment (HF3) exhibited maximum activity, and the chemo-profiling of VCA by LCMS suggested that the potent activity may be due to individual and/or synergistic effect of the identified pharmacologically active phytoconstituents. The study on yeast indicates that VCA was able to act intracellularly also as it was able to overcome the growth inhibitory effect of the H2O2 significantly (P < 0.01). Conclusion: We propose that treatment with HF3 (VCA) is a therapeutically beneficial method of decelerating wound retardation caused by aspirin intake in patients on long-term aspirin therapy.