The Antibacterial and Wound Healing Properties of Natural Products: A Review on Plant Species with Therapeutic Potential against Staphylococcus aureus Wound Infections

Abstract

Wounds of an acute or chronic etiology affect millions of people worldwide, with increasing prevalence every year. Microbial infections are one of the main causes that impair the wound healing process, and Staphylococcus aureus, a commensal member of the skin microbiota, is one of the main causative agents of wound infections. Crucially, a high proportion of these infections are caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, which, in addition to β-lactams, has acquired resistance to almost all the antibacterial agents used to treat it, limiting therapeutic options. Studies on the antimicrobial and healing activities of extracts, essential oils, or metabolites obtained from native plants have been reported in many countries that have a diverse flora and traditions with the use of medicinal plants for the treatment of wound infections. Due to their great chemical diversity, plants have proven to be promising sources of bioactive molecules for the discovery and development of new drugs or strategies for the treatment of wounds. This review highlights the main herbal preparations that have antimicrobial and healing activities with potential for the treatment of wound infections caused by Staphylococcus aureus.

Carbopol 940-based hydrogels loading synergistic combination of quercetin and luteolin from the herb Euphorbia humifusa to promote Staphylococcus aureus infected wound healing

“…38 For the management of infected wounds, strategies aimed at anti-infection and promoting healing should be employed, thus striking a balance between inflammation and tissue remodeling. 39 Numerous studies have demonstrated that the flavonoids and Carbopol 940 hydrogel possess wound-healing properties due to their well-acclaimed anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, re-epithelialization, and angiogenesis effects. 14,40–43 In our previous report, QU in combination with LU enhanced the antibacterial and antibiofilm efficacy synergistically, decreasing the membrane permeability and down-regulating the expression of multiple biofilm-related genes.…”

Comparative Study of the Efficacy of EHO-85, a Hydrogel Containing Olive Tree (Olea europaea) Leaf Extract, in Skin Wound Healing

“…Among the active compounds that are gaining importance in promoting wound healing are a wide variety of natural products, like plant extracts. These are characterized by containing numerous bioactive compounds with antimicrobial, immunoregulatory and antioxidant properties [11][12][13]. Thus, interesting therapeutic properties have been extensively reported for OELE, partly related to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory capacities [14,15].…”