A new natural gel of Fagonia indica Burm f. extract for the treatment of burn on rats

Fagonia indica Burm f. (Mushikka or white spine) is a plant distributed in the deserts of Asia and Africa and reported to be medicinal in the scientific literature as well as in the folk medicine. Earlier investigations, the authors isolated a number of bioactive constituents from the plant including flavonoids, sterols and tritepenoids; In addition its flavonoidal content was found remarkably high reaching 3% (calculated as flavonol on dry weight). The present study is an attempt to formulate, characterize and evaluate a natural wound-healing gel preparation containing the crude plant extract. Three formulae (F1-F3) were prepared. The gel properties such as viscosity, swelling ratio, bio-adhesion, in vitro release, stability, microbiological studies, in vivo burn healing test on rats and histopathological features were assessed. The results of the in vitro evaluation and stability studies showed that F3 (0.5% (w/w) of plant extract in 4% (w/w) chitosan) was significantly (p<0.05) the superior compared to other formulations. Besides, from the in vivo burn healing and histological results, F3 enhanced the skin wound re-epithelialization and speed up the healing process compared to the conventional commercial product. Thus, the Fagonia extract loaded chitosan topical gel would be used successfully in burn wound care.