Background:
Stephania dinklagei
Diels (Engl.) is used in folkloric medicine in Southeastern Nigeria for the treatment of wounds and some
bacterial-associated infections. This study evaluated the wound healing and antibacterial potential of
Stephania dinklagei to validate or invalidate its
folkloric use.
Materials and Methods: The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC) of methanolic extract of
S. dinklagei root (MESDR) against
Pseudomonas aeruginosa
,
Bacillus subtilis
,
Staphylococcus aureus
,
Escherichia coli
and
Klebsiella spp. was
determined by macro broth dilution. The extract at 20% and 10% were dosed orally to rats at 300mg/kg body weight (bw) in incision and dead space
wound healing model to determine wound tensile strength and granulation tissue weight, respectively. The same extract concentrations were applied
topically in excision wound model to determine the rate of wound contraction and epithelialization. Activities of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and
catalase (CAT), and the levels of total protein (TP), malondialdehyde (MAL), hydroxyproline (HYP) and hexosamine (HEX) in excision wound
biopsies were determined at days 7 and 14 post-wounding (pw). In the excision wound model, the extract concentrations were compared with
gentamicin sulphate.
Results: The MIC of
S. dinklagei extract against
P. aeruginosa,
S. aureus,
B. subtilis,
E. coli and
Klebsiella spp. were 8mg/ml, 3 mg/ml, 5mg/ml,
6mg/ml and 7mg/ml, respectively, while the corresponding MBC were 10 mg/ml, 5 mg/ml, 7mg/ml, 8mg/ml, and 9 mg/ml, respectively. The 20%
extract gave significantly (
P<0.05) higher tensile strength and granulation tissue weight than the 10% and gentamicin sulphate. Wound contraction
and epithelialization occurred significantly (
P<0.05) better and faster in wounds of animals treated with the 20% extract and gentamicin sulphate
compared to those treated with 10% extract. TP of animals treated with 20% extract and those treated with the reference drug did not vary
significantly (
P>0.05) at day 14 pw. SOD and CAT activities, and MDA and HEX level of all the groups did not vary significantly (
P>0.05) at day
14 pw. HYP level of the extract-treated groups significantly (
P<0.05) decreased against the control. No significant difference existed in HYP level
between the extract-treated groups.
Conclusions: S. dinklagei possess antibacterial and wound healing properties which are comparable to those of gentamicin sulphate.
