Abstract
Momordica charantia Linn. fruit powder, in the form of an ointment (10% w/w dried powder in simple ointment base), was evaluated for wound-healing potential in an excision, incision and dead space wound model in rats. The rats were divided into three groups of control, treatment and reference in all three wound models, each group consisting of six rats. Wound-contraction ability in excision wound mode was measured at different time intervals on days 4, 8, 10, 12 and 14, and the study was continued until the wound had completely healed. Tensile strength was measured in 10-day-old incision and granuloma wound. Histological studies were performed on 10-day-old sections of regenerated tissue. Powder ointment showed a stastically significant response (P < 0.01), in terms of wound-contracting ability, wound closure time, period of epithelization, tensile strength of the wound and regeneration of tissues at wound site when compared with the control group, and these results were comparable to those of a reference drug povidone iodine ointment.
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Notes on contributors
Vure Prasad
F. U. Alakbarov is Head Scientific Officer, expert in the Oriental and Folk Medicine, Institute of Manuscripts of the Azerbaijan Academy of Sciences, 8 Istiglaliyat str., Baku, 370001, Azerbaijan.
At the time of writing Liya Davydov was PharmD candidate, College of Pharmacy and Allied Health Professions, St. John’s University. Currently, she is Pharmacy Practice Resident, Mount Sinai Medical Center, New York, NY.
Ila Mehra Harris is Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmaceutical Care & Health Systems, College of Pharmacy, and Clinical Assistant Professor, Department of Family Practice & Community Health, Medical School, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN.
Colin J. Briggs is Professor of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Manitoba. Recently he completed a secondment to Health Canada, as Senior Science Advisor in the Therapeutics Products Programme with special responsibility for complementary medicines.
Gemma Briggs is Research Assistant, IMPACT, The Injury Prevention Centre of Children’s Hospital, 501G-715 John Buhler Research Centre, Winnipeg, MB, Canada.
Mary Chavezis Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Director of Complementary Medicine Education and Research, The Center for the Advancement of Pharmacy Practice, Midwestern University, College of Pharmacy Glendale, Glendale, AZ 85308.
June Riedlinger was Director of the Center for Integrative Therapies in Pharmaceutical Care, Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Boston, MA. Currently he is Adjunct Associate Professor of Neuropathic Medicine, Southwest College of Naturopathic Medicine & Health Sciences, 2140 East Broadway Road, Tempe, AZ 85282.
Gauri Madhav Chauhan and Suresh R. Naik belong to Principal K.M. Kundanani College of Pharmacy affiliated with Mumbai University, Mumbai, India.
Barbara Wider is Research Fellow in Complementary Medicine at the Peninsula Medical School and has been organizing the Annual Symposium on Complementary Health Care since 1996.