Abstract

STUDIES ON THE EFFECT OF HERBAL BIOENHANCERS ON WOUND HEALING ACTIVITY OF SIMVASTATIN IN RATS

Deepika Sahu, Akansha Thakur, Girish Sahu, Kushagra Nagori Ayushmaan Roy, Ruchi Khare Shrivastava, Kartik T. Nakhate and Mukesh Sharma*

ABSTRACT

Simvastatin have been used as anti-hyperlipidimc agent, it also show that topical administration of Simvastatin on open skin wounds not only had anti-inflammatory effect, but also reduced bacterial infection of the wound site. Simvastatin on topical application shows improvement of wound healing and protection against bacterial infection. However, its effect is limited due to poor penetration in the site of action. Therefore, the present investigation was designed to evaluate the effects of herbal bioenhancers (curcumin and piperine) on the wound healing activity of Simvastatin. Cream formulations of Simvastatin, alone and in combination with bioenhancers were prepared by oil in water method. The quality of prepared cream was assured in terms of viscosity, spreadability, phase separation and pH. The biological activity was evaluated using burn injury rat model. The injury was induced on the back skin of the adult rats using hot metal rod. Different cream formulations were applied once daily over the injury for a period of 21 days. Parameters like wound contraction (for 14 days) and epithelization period (for 21 days) were evaluated. Creams with Simvastatin, bioenhancers and Simvastatin + bioenhancers (SIMBIO) showed improvement in the wound healing. Interestingly, application of formulation with Simvastatin + bioenhancers showed much better effect as compared to other formulations. Since bioenhancers used in the formulation’s possess antibacterial and wound healing activity, they might act synergistically to potentiate the effect of Simvastatin. The results of the present study suggest that use of curcumin and piperine would be a fruitful approach to enhance the wound healing activity of topical Simvastatin preparations.

Keywords: Herbal Bioenhancers, Wound Healing, Simvastatin. Curcumin, piperine.