Traditional Plants Used in Southern Brazil as a Source to Wound Healing Therapies.

In southern Brazil, the biodiversity is great and the traditional use of medicinal plants for wound healing has been documented in ethnobotanical studies and pharmacological studies have assessed their wound properties and phytochemistry. Therefore, this study evaluated ethnobotanical surveys regarding medicinal plants used in southern Brazil for wound healing and studies about the healing properties of these plants published between 2000 and 2022. To retrieve articles related to the study, Web of Science, PubMed (NLM), Open Access Journals, Scielo, Lilacs, and Google Scholar, with keywords including medicinal plants, wound healing, and South of Brazil, have been used. As a result, 73 medicinal plants belonging to 39 families were found in ethnobotanical surveys as a traditional resource used for wound healing in southern Brazil, 15 of which were cited more than once. Besides, 14 of these 15 plants were also used as healing agents worldwide. The most cited plant with healing actions in southern Brazil was Symphytum officinale L. (comfrey). From 2000 to date, 44 articles scientifically demonstrated the wound-healing effects of the southern Brazilian plants found in ethnobotanical surveys reviewed. The folk medicine of southern Brazil presents a variety of medicinal plants for wound-healing purposes, and scientific data were found for some of those plants. However, the wound-healing properties of many plants have yet to be investigated, and the current literature still needs more phytochemical information about the plants studied. Aside from this, the future focus should be on the standardization of herbal extracts, and further research is required to investigate the pharmacological mechanisms. Clinical research in this area remains in its infancy and warrants more robust further clinical studies.

Capacidad antioxidante in vitro de comfrey (Symphytum officinale L.) / In vitro antioxidant capacity of comfrey (Symphytum officinale L.)

Introducción: Symphytum officinale L. es una hierba perenne de la familia Boraginaceae, de uso medicinal durante muchos años para tratar dolores de articulaciones, músculos, cicatrización de heridas, dolor menstrual, problemas bronquiales, entre otros. Por otro lado, la presencia de polifenoles, triterpenoides y taninos en S. officinale L., permite suponer que la especie bajo estudio puede ser una fuente promisoria de extractos con una alta capacidad antioxidante. Objetivo: evaluar el posible potencial antioxidante de los extractos y del aceite esencial de S. officinale. Métodos: hojas secas y pulverizadas de S. officinale se sometieron a extracciones sucesivas con hexano y etanol hasta agotamiento y el aceite esencial se obtuvo por hidrodestilación. El potencial antioxidante se determinó de acuerdo con su capacidad de atrapamiento del radical estable 2,2-difenil-1-picrilhidrazilo (DPPH, 2-2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl). Resultados: las muestras evaluadas presentaron valores de EC50 entre 0,06 y 0,44 g muestra/µmol DPPH, similares a extractos naturales como los aceites esenciales de orégano y romero, y de sustancias de referencia como el ácido ascórbico. Conclusiones: las hojas de la planta S. officinale mostraron un efecto antioxidante significativo, lo cual refuerza sus propiedades medicinales en la recuperación de tejidos y dolencias musculares, entre otras afecciones.

Introduction: Symphytum officinale L., is a perennial plant from Boraginaceae family that has been used in medicine for treatment painful joints and muscles, menstruation pain and bronchial problems in addition to stimulating healing of wounds, among other effects. On the other hand, the presence of polyphenols, triterpenoids and tannins in this specie allows us to think that it could be a promising source of natural compounds with high antioxidant activity. Objective: to evaluate the antioxidant potential of the extracts and the essential oil from S. officinale. Methods: dry and powered S. officinale leaves underwent successive extractions with ethanol and hexane and the essential oil was obtained by hydrodistillation. The antioxidant potential was determined on the trapping capacity of stable radical 2-2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH assay). Results: the samples showed EC50 values from 0.06 to 0.44 g sample/µmol DPPH, comparable to natural extracts like the essential oils from oregano and rosemary and to standard substances like ascorbic acid. Conclusions: S. officinale leaves showed an important antioxidant effect, and this result support the medicinal properties of the plant in tissue recovery and therapy for muscular pains and others pathologies.

Efeito do Symphytum officinale na consolidação de fraturas de rádio e ulna de ratos / Symphytum officinale effect on the consolidation of radio and ulna fractures in rats

Introdução: o estudo da consolidação óssea e dos diversos fatores capazes de estimular o processo de reparo ósseo envolve muitas pesquisas na literatura. Objetivo: testar o efeito do Symphytum officinale na consolidação de fraturas de rádio e ulna em ratos. Método: os autores avaliaram 34 ratos da linhagem Wistar, nos quais foi realizada fratura manual dos ossos do antebraço direito sob anestesia. Os ratos foram divididos aleatoriamente em dois grupos. O grupo experimento recebeu duas gotas da substância Symphytum officinale e o grupo controle recebeu duas gotas de soro fisiológico 0,9%, administradas em ambos na frequência de três vezes ao dia pelo método da gavagem. Após o sacrifício, aos 14 e 28 dias de tratamento, foi realizada dissecção dos rádios e das ulnas. Os ossos foram radiografados e submetidos à leitura da densitometria óptica radiográfica. Resultados: foram observadas diferenças na formação do calo ósseo ulnar em relação ao radial, independentemente do grupo estudado na comparação entre o grupo controle e experimento. Conclusões: a formação do calo ósseo ulnar apresentou maior densidade óssea em relação ao calo radial, independentemente do grupo estudado, e a substância Symphytum officinale, em doses homeopáticas, não se mostrou estimulante da consolidação de fraturas em antebraços de ratos da raça Wistar.

Introduction: there are several studies in medical literature covering the subject of bones consolidation, as well as the several stimulating factors related to it. Objective: to test the effect of Symphytum officinale in bone consolidation of radio and ulna fractures in rats. Method: the authors describe a survey conducted over a sample of 34 rats of Wistar lineage, randomly divided in two different groups, on which a manual procedure to cause the fractures in the bones of the right forearm was conducted with anesthesia. The rats of the experimental group were given two drops of a substance known as Symphytum officinale and the rats of the control group were given two drops of physiologic saline, 0.9%. For those two groups, the drugs were given three times per day by gavage. After the sacrifice of the rats, a series of dissections of the radio and the ulna bones was conducted. All bones were submitted to X-rays and to optical densitometry radiographic devices. Results: a difference in the bone callus formation of ulna was observed when compared to the bone callus formation of radio, regardless of the groups. Conclusions: the bone callus formation of the ulna presented more bone density in relation to radio callus, independently to the studied group and Symphytum officinale, in homeopathic doses, did not stimulate the bone fractures consolidation in forearms of Wistar rats lineage.