Comparative Wound Healing Potential of Ficus infectoria and Ficus benghalensis in the Skin of Rats

Wound is the loss of integrity of skin and the process to maintain that integrity is wound healing. For more than 5000 years “Ayurveda” has been practiced in India as a natural treatment system in order to prevent and treatment of diseases and plants are part of this process. Recently, there has been an increased interest in the therapeutic potential of plants as an antioxidant,anti-inflammatory and in reducing tissue injuries. Hence, the present study was performed to screen the latex of F. infectoria (Pakar) and F. benghalensis (Bargad) of the Ficus spp. for their wound healing activity. The latex of these plants was applied fresh/raw topically on the wound of area 2×2 cm². The latex was collected early morning in NS every day for 14 days and applied twice a day. The collected latex was stored at 4 °C for evening application. After 14 days of trial, the granulation tissue was collected for histopathological studies like H & E staining and Masson’s trichrome staining and pro-healing parameters like hydroxyproline and glucosamine. For pro-healing parameters, tissue was stored at -80°C and for histopathological parameters, tissue was stored in 10% formalin. The wound contraction was calculated on 3,5,7,9,11 and 14 days post wounding. In conclusion, the Ficus spp. plants produced quicker and improved wound healing in the cutaneous wound by modulating inflammatory and proliferative phases and oxidant-mediated cell damage at the wound site. The histopathology revealed obvious fibroblast proliferation and collagen deposition and regenerated epithelial layer. The higher levels of glucosamine and hydroxyproline also revealed collagen deposition and granulation tissue formation.