An in vivo Investigation on the Wound-Healing Effect of Two Medicinal Herbs Using an Animal Model with Foot Ulcer

Abstract

Background/Aim: Over 190 million people in the world suffer from diabetes mellitus. Diabetics are 25 times more likely to have a leg amputated because of unhealing foot ulcers. Herbal medicine has been used in China to salvage the ulcerated limb. With the aim to study the efficacy of two commonly used herbs for ulcer healing, namely Radix Astragali and Radix Rehmanniae, a good animal model needs to be developed for a proper in vivo investigation. Methods: Firstly, a diabetic animal model was established by streptozotocin injection. Then standard wounds were created on the feet of the diabetic rats. Digital photographs were taken and analyzed by a novel image analysis software. Results: The average ulcer area in the Radix Rehmanniae treatment group was 11.45 mm², which was significantly smaller than the 15.12 mm² in the water treatment group (p = 0.04). Radix Astragali, on the other hand, was found to have no significant effect on ulcer shrinkage. Conclusion: Further investigation is needed for the identification of the active principles of Radix Rehmanniae.

Pharmacological investigation on the wound healing effects of Radix Rehmanniae in an animal model of diabetic foot ulcer

“…The herb was also applied in reducing pain from inflammation in the lower limb, according to the information of the Pandects of Natural History (Li Shizhen 1518-1593 Bencao Gangmu. Our recent study also demonstrated similar foot ulcer healing effects of RR aqueous extract in diabetic rats (Lau et al, 2008). The correlations between traditional TCM experience and modern scientific studies have inspired us to search for the mechanistic explanation for the effects of RR in diabetic foot ulcer healing.…”

Effect of a twin-herb formula for the Treatment of Chronic Non-healing Ulcers: a Clinical Study

“…Radix Rehmanniae has been shown to greatly facilitate fi broblast proliferation in our laboratory and also in some other studies [3][4][5]. Astragalus is well known for its immunomodulating effects.…”

“…The herbs mainly worked on the control of infl ammation and promotion of granulation formation through stimulation of fi broblast proliferation [3,4].…”

Efficacy of Some Antibiotics in Curing Resistant <i>Escherichia coli</i> Infection

“…Wound area measurement was made by using the digital photographs of the wounds. Perior to picture taking, the rat hind paw was gently pinched manually, so that the wound site was positioned at the intersection of the vertical and horizontal grid lines on the graphic paper on to which vertical and horizontal rulers had been fixed [36], which allowed us to enlarge the photograph in order to increase the accuracy of wound area measurement and the photographs were processed by using Microsoft Word where the wound area was traced and measured on the scale present in the same photograph [18].…”