In Vivo Wound Healing and In Vitro Anti-Inflammatory Activity Evaluation of Phlomis russeliana Extract Gel Formulations

Abstract

The air-dried aerial parts of <i>Phlomis russeliana</i> (Sims) Lag. Ex Benth. was extracted by methanol and fractionated by <i>n</i>-hexane, dichloromethane, and ethyl acetate, respectively. The wound healing properties of <i>P. russeliana</i> extract gel was evaluated using the in vivo excisional wound model using Balb-c mice. Initially, the <i>P. russeliana</i> methanol extract showed LOX inhibitory activity at IC₅₀ = 23.2 µg/mL, whereas the DPPH^• assay showed IC₅₀ = 0.89 mg/mL, and the ABTS^• assay showed IC₅₀ = 0.99 mg/mL, respectively. In addition, a remarkable anti-inflammatory activity was observed in the cell culture assay. Thereafter, activity-guided fractionation was performed by LOX enzyme inhibition assays, and the structures of the two most active fractions were revealed by both GC-FID and GC/MS analyses, simultaneously. Phytol and 1-heptadecanoic acid were characterized as the active constituents. Moreover, the <i>P. russeliana</i> extract gel formulation was applied for in vivo tests, where the new gel formulation supported the in vitro anti-inflammatory activity findings. As a conclusion, this experimental results support the wound healing evidence based on the ethnobotanical application of <i>Phlomis</i> species with further potential.