Anti-inflammatory effect of ethanolic extract of Ocimum basilicum L. in the healing process of incisional wounds in mice

Abstract

Maintaining the structural and functional integrity of the skin is critical to ensuring body homeostasis. After damage, a series of cellular and molecular events occurs in this structure in order to repair the injured tissue. Imbalances in one or more repair steps are commonly related to difficulties in proceeding with healing. In this sense, the search for treatments that improve the repair has encompassed research with several plants, given the possibility of effects on one or more stages, the reduction of costs and possible side effects. Ocimum basilicum, used globally from cooking to practices in folk medicine, has in its phytoconstitution substances with different actions such as anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, antimicrobial. Therefore, the present study aimed to evaluate the anti-inflammatory effect of intraperitoneal treatment with ethanolic extract of Ocimum basilicum (EEOB) on wound healing in mice. Incisional wounds were induced in mice, they were divided according to treatment period and group, n=6, and received EEOB intraperitoneally (i.p.) at 150 mg/kg daily or saline solution for 5 or 7 days. At the end of this period, the animals were euthanized and the lesions underwent histopathological processing and analysis. In animals treated with EEOB injection, there was a decrease in the number of leukocytes at 5 days and mast cells at 7 days post-injury compared to the control. The observed anti-inflammatory action can be associated with the presence of several phenolic compounds and their individual or synergistic effects on the evaluated process. Keywords: Healing; medicinal plants; inflammation.