Healing potential of Datura alba on burn wounds in albino rats

Datura alba Nees (Solanaccae) is popular all over the world for its medicinal uses in asthma, muscle spasm, whooping cough, hemorrhoids, skin ulcers, etc. In India, it is widely used traditionally for the relief of rheumatism and other painful affections. Ayurveda and Siddha practitioners use oil based preparations of this plant from ancient days to till date for all types of wounds. Hence, the present study was chosen to evaluate its scientific validity. The alcohol extract of the D. alba leaves were investigated for the evaluation of its healing efficiency on burn wound models in rats. The crude alcohol extract and one of the fractions exhibited antimicrobial effect against all the pathogens studied. A 10% (w/w) formulation of alcoholic extract was topically applied on thermal wounds. Complete wound closure was observed within 12 days in treated rats. The effect produced by the ointment, in terms of wound contracting ability, wound closure time, tissue regeneration at the wound site and histopathological characteristics were significant in treated rats. Collagen, hexosamine and gelatinase expressions were also well correlative with the healing pattern observed. The present study thus provides a scientific rationale for the traditional use of this plant in the management of wounds.