An assessment of the wound healing potential of a herbal gel containing an Azadirachta indica leaf extract

Abstract

The objective of this study was to produce a Carbopol 940 based gel formula containing an Azadirachta indica leaf extract and evaluate its wound healing potential. The ethanolic extract was derived from the dried leaves of Azadirachta indica and was subjected to a phytochemical evaluation. Three gel formulations of Carbopol 940 containing an Azadirachta indica extract in three different concentrations, i.e., 1, 2, and 3% w/w were prepared. These gels were evaluated for their physical appearance, stability, antimicrobial activity, extrudability, skin irritability, pH, spreadability, and viscosity. The prepared formulas were stable, greenish and homogeneous. None of them showed irritation to the skin. The spreadability (g.cm/sec), viscosity (cps), and pH of all three formulations was 34.68, 53 270–65 400, and 6–7, respectively. Gel-III exhibited the highest antimicrobial potential against E. coli and P. aeruginosa with a zone of inhibition of 16.2 ± 0.6 mm and 15.6 ± 0.6 mm, respectively. It was revealed from the wound healing studies that the epithelialisation time for the Albino rabbits treated with Gel-III was 23 days. The Albino rabbits treated with Gel-I, Gel-II, a standard gel, and those with the untreated one (control), epithelialised in 27, 25, 26, and 34 days, respectively. A formulation containing 3% w/w extract showed better antimicrobial activity, physicochemical characteristics, and pharmacological parameters than the other formulations. It can be concluded that the wound healing process was faster with the gel formulation containing 3% w/w of the Azadirachta indica extract, proposing that this formulation is a promising candidate for wound healing.