Antioxidant enzymes in assessment of wound healing efficacy of Mitracarpus villosus ointment in diabetic state

BACKGROUND: Diabetes mellitus (DM) is a global health problem that accounted for about 1.5 million deaths in 2012; majority of these deaths are associated with complications such as poor wound healing. Assessment and management of wounds in people with DM has been identified as the major limiting factor besides poorly-managed hyperglycaemia. METHODS: To determine the effect of Mitracarpus villosus (M. villosus) ointment in healing of wounds in diabetic albino rats as compared to honey, the antioxidant enzymes of superoxide dismutase (SOD), catalase (CAT), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) were used as assessment parameters in three groups (n = 3) for a period of 21 days. RESULTS: A significant decrease (P < 0.05) was observed in the enzymes' activity at days 7, 14, and 21 for both SOD and GPx in the treated groups, especially for M. villosus ointment treatment as compared to the non-treated group. In addition, there was no significance to CAT decrease 7 days after wound excision in the treatment groups as compared to the non-treated diabetic rats (11.66 ± 0.90, 12.20 ± 0.40, 13.30 ± 2.19) for control, honey, and ointment treatments, respectively. Physical assessment showed that reduced wound size was recorded more in the ointment-treated group than honey-treated and non-treated groups. CONCLUSION: M. villosus ointment can heal wounds faster than honey and holds potential for wound healing in DM sufferers, and exacerbated tissue stress can be ameliorated using M. villosus ointment. However, the isolation and characterisation of specific bioactive compounds in the ointment responsible for specific enzyme activities, the effect of ointment on collagen synthesis, and mechanism by which wound healing is achieved requires further studies