AGERATUM CONYZOIDES LINN., AND WOUND HEALING PROPERTIES

Abstract

It is unimaginable to even think of the existence of human race on the Earth without vegetation on it. Right from the beginning of the human race, humans depended on plants for their survival. Medicinal plants were the only source of medicine for any ailment. Ayurveda, Unani, and Chinese Ordinary medicine contain statements of medicinal plant description and their use which are the evidences to medicinal plant use. During economic crisis and in less affluent rural areas, the population depends mainly on medicinal plants or traditional medicine and even in urban areas, the population frequently uses this alternative medicine for routine health care and as self-medication against minor and chronic ailments. This traditional/local medicine evolved out from a holistic perspective of human well-being. In the developed countries and more affluent regions, phyto-pharmaceutical therapy is being used as an alternative to biomedicine and also for the treatment of mild and chronic health problems. Wounds are ultimate result of physical disruption of the skin – which is the major hurdle for the infection to establish itself by microbial pathogens in visceral tissues. Infection results when the microbes breach this skin barrier. An intrinsic feature of inflammation is the removal of polluting microbes and fortunately this inflammation also happens to be a routine part of injury recovery process. If for any reason the contaminating microbes are not removed completely, which usually results from ineffective decontamination, there will be a long standing inflammation.5%w/w simple ointments were prepared from the extracts of Ageratum conyzoides and evaluated for wound healing properties and it was found that these ointments significantly reduced the number of days required for wound contraction and for epithelialization when compared to placebo in excisional wound models of rats.

Keywords: plants, ageratum conyzoides, excisional wound model, rate of wound contraction