全 文 ： 138 Chin J Nat Med Mar. 2012 Vol. 10 No. 2 2012 年 3 月 第 10 卷 第 2 期

Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines 2012, 10(2): 0138−0141
doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1009.2012.00138
Chinese
Journal of
Natural
Medicines







Evaluation of wound healing activity of
Tecomaria capensis leaves
Saini NK*, Singhal M, Srivastava B
School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Department of Pharmacology, Jaipur National University, Jaipur 302025, India
Available online 20 Mar. 2012
[ABSTRACT] The aim of the present study was to evaluate the potential wound healing activity of Tecomaria capensis leaves extract
(TCLE) using different models in rats. (a) Excision wound model, (b) Incision wound model and (c) Dead space wound model. TCLE
(100, 300, 1 000 and 2 000 mg·kg−1) was given to rats to observe acute toxicity. No toxicity was found in animals till 14 days. TCLE
5% and 10% ointment were applied topically in excision wound model and incision wound model. TCLE 200 and 400 mg·kg−1 were
given orally in dead space wound model. It improved healing in excision wound model, increased breaking strength of tissue in inci-
sion wound model, and increased granuloma breaking strength and hydroxyproline content in dead space wound model. These results
showed that TCLE presents significant wound healing activity.
[KEY WORDS] Tecomaria capensis; Wound healing; Excision wound; Incision wound; Dead space wound
[CLC Number] R965 [Document code] A [Article ID] 1672-3651(2012)02-0138-04

1 Introduction
Tecomaria capensis (Bignoniaceae), also known as
Cape-honeysuckle [1], a fast growing, scrambling shrub which
may grow up to 2−3 m high and spread more than 2.5 m.
Tecomaria capensis is an evergreen plant in warm climate
areas but loses its leaves in colder areas. It has pinnately
compound leaves that have oval leaflets with blunt teeth.
Flowering time for this shrub is very erratic and often it
flowers all year round. Flowers are orange in color and are
tubular and bird pollinated, attracting nectar-feeding birds,
especially sunbirds. The plant is used as a traditional medi-
cine to relieve pain and sleeplessness [2]. Dried and powdered
bark infusions are taken for sleeplessness [3-4]. It is included
in the list of African plants evaluated for in vitro antiplasmo-
dial activity against Plasmodium falciparum [5].
Wound healing is a complex multi-factorial process that
results in the contraction and closure of the wound and resto-
ration of a functional barrier [6]. Repair of injured tissues
occurs as a sequence of events, which includes inflammation,
proliferation and migration of different cell types [7].
The present study was carried out to determine the effect

[Received on] 29-May-2011
[*Corresponding author] Saini NK: Tel: 09829608027, E-mail:
pharmaniraj@gmail.com
These authors have no any conflict of interest to declare.
of methanol extract of Tecomaria capensis leaves on wound
healing based on two evidence, (1) Previously methanol ex-
tract of Tecomaria capensis leaves reported as antimicrobial [8]
and antioxidant [9]. (2) Phytochemical investigation of
methanol extract of Tecomaria capensis leaves revealed the
presence of triterpenoids, phenolics, volatile oil, glycosides,
flavonoids. They are known to promote the wound healing
process mainly due to their astringent, anti-microbial and free
radical scavenging activity.
2 Material and Methods
2.1 Plant material
The leaves of Tecomaria capensis were collected from
Jaipur National University, Jaipur, Rajasthan, India and a
voucher specimen (RUBL 20847) for this plant material was
preserved in the Herbarium of Department of Botany, Ra-
jasthan University, Jaipur. The leaves, dried in shade were
powdered and 40 g of powdered leaves was subjected to sox-
hlet with methanol at 40−60 °C for 72 h. The extract col-
lected was evaporated (yield 26.7%, W/W), and stored in a
vacuum desiccator. The preliminary phytochemical investi-
gations with the methanolic extract revealed the presence of
flavonoids, flavones, phenolic compound, tannins, volatile oil,
triterpenoids, fixed oil, steroids, saponins, glycosides.
2.2 Drug and chemicals
Povidone iodine (Winmedicare), ketamine (Themis
Medicare Ltd.), l-hydroxyproline (Alpha Chemika), ethanol
(Merck), diethyl ether (Ranbaxy), hydrochloric acid (Merck),
Saini N K, et al. /Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines 2012, 10(2): 138−141
2012 年 3 月 第 10 卷 第 2 期 Chin J Nat Med Mar. 2012 Vol. 10 No. 2 139

Chloramine-T (Halides Chemicals), perchloric acid (Lo-
bachem), Ehrlich reagent.
2.3 Animals
Albino rats of either sex (150−200 g) were used for the
experimental study. The animals were maintained under
standard husbandry conditions of temperature (25 ± 2) °C, 12
h light/dark cycle in polypropylene cages and provided with
standard pellet diet and water ad libitum. Animals were fast-
ing overnight prior to the experiment and all the procedures
used in these studies were approved by the Institutional Ani-
mal Ethics Committee.
2.4 Acute toxicity studies
The acute toxicity was performed according to reference
[10]. Selected female albino rats were used to determine the
dose. Animals were divided into four groups with three in
each. Animals were fasted overnight prior to the acute ex-
perimental procedure. Distilled water was used as vehicle to
suspend the extracts and administered orally at 100, 300, 1
000 and 2 000 mg·kg−1 body wt. Immediately, after dosing,
the animals were observed continuously for first 4 h for be-
havioral changes and daily till 14 d for mortality.
2.5 Excision wound model
The animals were divided into four groups with six in
each
Group-1: Control (treated with simple ointment).
Group-2: Standard group treated with 5% povidone io-
dine ointment.
Group-3: Treated with 5% TCLE ointment.
Group-4: Treated with 10% TCLE ointment.
All animals in each group were anaesthetized by i.p. in-
jection of ketamine. The rats were depilated on back and a
predetermined area of 500 mm2 full thickness was excised in
the dorsal interface [11]. The percentage of wound closure [12],
epithelization time were monitored [13].
2.6 Incision wound model
Four groups with six animals in each were anaesthetized
and two paravertebral-long incisions were made through the
skin and cutaneous muscles at a distance of about 6 cm from
the midline on one side of the depilated back of the rat. Full
aseptic measures were not taken and no local or systemic
antimicrobials were used throughout the experiment [14]. All
the groups were treated in the same manner as that of exci-
sion wound model. After the incision was made, the parted
skin was kept together and stitched with black silk at 0.5 cm
intervals; surgical thread (No. 000) and a curved needle (No.
11) were used for stitching. The continuous threads on both
wound edges were tightened for good closure of the wound.
The wound was left undressed. Sample extract along with
simple ointment (control) and povidone iodine were topically
administered once daily for 9 d. When wounds were cured
thoroughly the sutures were removed on the 9th day and
breaking strength was measured with a tensiometer.
2.7 Dead space wound model
The animals were divided into five groups with six rats
in each and kept in separate cages (Table 2). The dead space
Table 1 Effect of TCLE and povidone iodine ointment on wound contraction in excision wound model ( x ± s, n = 6)
Wound area (mm2) and percentage of wound contraction Post wounding
(days) Control Povidone iodine ointment (5%) TCLE ointment (5%) TCLE ointment (10%)
0 497.30 ± 6.90 494.67 ± 6.66 496.01 ± 7.24 499.90 ± 5.59
2 439.94 ± 9.39 (11.53%) 420.15 ± 4.48 (15.06%) 432.36 ± 4.90 (12.83%) 428.80 ± 8.18 (14.22%)
4 383.68 ± 9.35 (22.85%) 326.75 ± 4.05 (33.95%)*** 345.26 ± 6.89 (30.39%)* 331.04 ± 4.29 (33.78%)***
6 345.38 ± 8.97 (30.55%) 248.92 ± 14.98 (49.68%)*** 264.49 ± 11.48 (46.68%)*** 253.45 ± 14.3 (49.30%)***
8 311.15 ± 8.29 (37.43%) 185.38 ± 11.20 (62.52%)*** 206.56 ± 9.31 (58.36%)*** 192.53 ± 15.33 (61.49%)***
10 282.76 ± 8.99 (43.14%) 111.24 ± 12.65 (77.51%)*** 134.19 ± 9.36 (72.95%)*** 116.92 ± 8.24 (76.61%)***
12 257.06 ± 13.02 (48.31%) 73.38 ± 9.08 (85.17%)*** 100.15 ± 9.26 (79.81%)*** 85.87 ± 7.99 (82.82%)***
14 230.48 ± 13.10 (53.65%) 39.37 ± 6.21 (92.04%)*** 66.84 ± 6.87 (86.52%)*** 39.57 ± 4.89 (92.08%)***
16 200.53 ± 14.24 (59.65%) 12.55 ± 2.91 (97.47%)*** 36.72 ± 5.66 (92.6%)*** 19.43 ± 3.21 (96.11%)***
Epithelization
period (days) 26.17 ± 0.48 18.83 ± 0.6 20.33 ± 0.88 19.17 ± 0.543
* P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001 vs control


Table 2 Effect of TCLE on wound healing in incision
wound model ( x ± s, n = 6)
Group Breaking strength (g)
Control 328.83 ± 9.04
Povidone iodine ointment (5%) 603.33 ± 11.45***
TCLE ointment (5%) 515.83 ± 8.89***
TCLE ointment (10%) 594.167 ± 10.04***
* P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001 vs control
wound was created by implanting subcutaneously polypro-
pylene tubes (2.5 cm × 0.5 cm) in the lumbar region on dorsal
side [15]. Group-1 served as the control. Group-3 and Group-4
were treated orally with TCLE 200, 400 mg·kg−1 respectively.
Group-2 animals were treated with povidone iodine ointment
topically. Animals received test extract from 0 day to 9th
post-wounding day. On 10th post-wounding day, the granula-
tion tissue harvested on each implanted tube was carefully
Saini N K, et al. /Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines 2012, 10(2): 138−141
140 Chin J Nat Med Mar. 2012 Vol. 10 No. 2 2012 年 3 月 第 10 卷 第 2 期

dissected out along with the tube and employed for determi-
nation of breaking strength and the estimation of hy-
droxyproline content [16].
2.8 Hydroxyproline estimation
For the estimation of hydroxyproline content, the wound
tissues were excised and dried in a hot air oven at 60 °C to
constant weight and were hydrolyzed in 6 mol·L−1 HCl for 4
h at 130 °C. The hydrolysate was neutralized to pH 7.0 and
was subjected to Chloramine-T oxidation for 20 min. Their
action was terminated by addition of 0.4 mol·L−1 perchloric
acid and color was developed with the help of Ehrlich reagent
at 60 °C which was measured at 557 nm using a spectropho-
tometer. The amount of hydroxyproline in the samples was
calculated using a standard curve prepared with pure
l-hydroxyproline [16].
2.9 Statistical analysis
Results are expressed as x ± s. Statistical significance
was determined using the one way ANOVA followed by
Dunnett’s multiple comparison test and two way ANOVA. P
< 0.05 was considered statistically significant.
3 Result and Discussion
3.1 Acute toxicity study
The toxicity study showed that no mortality and toxicity
were reported until 14 d. This indicates that the methanol
extract is safe up to a single dose of 2 000 mg·kg−1 body
weight.
3.2 Excision wound model
The measurement of the progress of the wound healing
induced by the povidone iodine, TCLE ointments, simple
ointment in the excision wound model are shown in Table 1.
It was observed that the wound contracting abilities of 5%
and 10% TCLE ointments (92.6%, 96.11%) were signifi-
cantly (P < 0.05) greater than that of the control (59.65%).
The epithelization time was significantly (P < 0.05) reduced
from 26 days (control) to 19 days in Group-4 animals as
shown in Table 1.
3.3 Incision wound model
The breaking strength of the incision wounds was in-
creased in drug treated groups to a significant extent, i.e.
(328.83 ± 9.04) in control was increased up to (603.33 ±
11.45) with Group-2 up to (515.83 ± 8.89) with Group-3 and
with Group-4 to (594.167 ± 10.04) as shown in Table 2. The
results are also comparable to standard drug Povidone iodine.
3.4 Dead space wound model
In the dead space wound study, there was a significant
increase in granuloma breaking strength in TCLE treated
groups at 200, and 400 mg·kg−1 doses orally, when compared
to control (Table 3). There was significant increase in hy-
droxyproline content in extract treated groups at 200 and 400
mg·kg−1 doses. Povidone iodine also showed significant re-
sults as compared to control (P < 0.05).
Wound healing involves different phases including con-
traction, the formation of epithelization and fibrosis. The
Table 3 Effect of TCLE on wound healing in dead space
wound model ( x ± s, n = 6)
Group Granuloma break-ing strength/g
Hydroxyproline con-
tent/(mg·g−1 tissue)
Control 322.17 ± 6.81 31.53 ± 0.65
Povidone iodine
ointment (5%) 535.83 ± 15.62*** 47.73 ± 0.46***
TCLE 200
mg·kg−1 p.o. 434.17 ± 10.44*** 50.57 ± 1.56***
TCLE 400
mg·kg−1 p.o. 515.83 ± 15.13*** 53.93 ± 0.83***
* P < 0.05, ***P < 0.001 vs control

biological response regulating the body’s own cellular de-
fense mechanisms contributes to the wound and its repair [17].
Recent studies showed that phytochemical constituents like
flavonoids [18] and triterpenoids [19] are known to promote the
wound healing process mainly due to their astringent and
antimicrobial properties, which appear to be responsible for
wound contraction and increased rate of epithelialization.
The preliminary phytochemical analysis of the TCLE
showed the presence of phenolics, tannins, flavonoids, triter-
penoids. Any one of the observed phytochemical constituent
may be responsible for the wound healing activity.
In excision wound healing model TCLE showed signifi-
cant increase in percentage closure of excision wounds by
enhanced epithelization. This enhanced epithelization may be
due to the effect of TCLE on enhanced collagen synthesis.
Similarly, the breaking strength of the incision wounds was
increased in TCLE treated groups in incision wound healing
model. Deposition of newly synthesized collagens at the
wound site increases the collagen concentration per unit area
and hence the tissue breaking strength [14].
In dead space model there was a significant increase in
granuloma tissue breaking strength in TCLE treated groups.
The higher breaking strength indicates better healing of
wounds. Higher hydroxyproline content was seen with TCLE
treatment. The increased amount of hydroxyproline in test
groups underlines increased collagen content, since hy-
droxyproline is the direct estimate of collagen synthesis it
supports the wound healing activity of TCLE [20].
In conclusion, the observations and results obtained in
this study indicated that TCLE significantly stimulated
wound contraction. The breaking strength of the treated inci-
sion wounds increased in TCLE when treated groups com-
pared with the control group. These findings support wound
healing activity of this plant. There is not much information
available on the phytochemical and pharmacological studies
on Tecomaria capensis. Further experiments are needed to
test the effect of this plant in the treatment of chronic
wounds.
Acknowledgement
We are thankful to Jaipur National University, Jaipur for
supporting us in the research.
Saini N K, et al. /Chinese Journal of Natural Medicines 2012, 10(2): 138−141
2012 年 3 月 第 10 卷 第 2 期 Chin J Nat Med Mar. 2012 Vol. 10 No. 2 141

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