Formulation and characterization of a novel cutaneous wound healing ointment by silver nanoparticles containing Citrus lemon leaf: A chemobiological study

Introduction: Formulating new wound-healing ointments by natural compounds is the first research priority in the developing and developed countries. This study was intended to provide green formulation of Ag-NP ointment containing Citrus lemon leaf aqueous extract and examine its capability of healing cutaneous wounds and its antioxidant and cytotoxicity activities under in vitro and in vivo conditions. Materials and methods: Different techniques, including UV-Vis and FT-IR spectroscopy, were used to characterize Ag-NPs. MTT assay was used to investigate cytotoxicity property of AgNPs. Antioxidant activity of Ag-NPs were examined by DPPH in the presence of butylated hydroxytoluene as positive control. Parameters of cutaneous wound healing were measured both histopathologically and biochemically. Results: Clear peak at 429 nm shown by UV-Vis spectroscopy indicated formation of Ag-NPs. In FT-IR spectroscopy, presence of many antioxidant compounds provided an excellent condition to reduce silver in Ag-NPs. FE-SEM and TEM images showed spherical Ag-NPs with an average size of 25.1 nm. The synthesized silver nanoparticles had excellent cell viability on the HUVECs line and indicated this method was nontoxic. Application of Ag-NP ointment improved wound healingparameters significantly (P < 0.01). Ag-NPs reduced wound areas, total cells, neutrophils and lym-phocytes significantly (P < 0.01) and increased wound contracture, vessels, hexosamines, hydroxyl proline, hexuronic acid, fibrocytes, fibroblasts and fibrocyte/ fibroblast ratios significantly (P < 0.01). Conclusions: Once our results are verified by clinically experimental studies, Ag-NP ointment can be used as a modern one to treat several types of wounds, especially cutaneous ones, in humans. (c) 2021 Published by Elsevier B.V. on behalf of King Saud University. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

Automated summary

This study aimed to investigate the efficacy and antioxidant activity of Ag-NP ointment containing Citrus lemon leaf aqueous extract in healing cutaneous wounds while confirming its low cytotoxicity. Experimental results demonstrated that the Ag-NP ointment significantly improved wound healing and enhanced healing parameters, highlighting its potential as a modern treatment for various types of wounds, especially cutaneous ones.