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. 2009 Sep;6(3):351-6.
doi: 10.1093/ecam/nem127. Epub 2007 Oct 25.

Evaluation of the Wound-healing Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Morinda citrifolia L. Leaf

B Shivananda Nayak  1 , Steve Sandiford, Anderson Maxwell
Affiliations

Evaluation of the Wound-healing Activity of Ethanolic Extract of Morinda citrifolia L. Leaf

B Shivananda Nayak et al. Evid Based Complement Alternat Med. 2009 Sep.

Abstract

Morinda citrifolia L. (noni) is one of the most important traditional Polynesian medicinal plants. The primary indigenous use of this plant appears to be of the leaves, as a topical treatment for wound healing. The ethanol extract of noni leaves (150 mg kg(-1) day(-1)) was used to evaluate the wound-healing activity on rats, using excision and dead space wound models. Animals were randomly divided into two groups of six for each model. Test group animals in each model were treated with the ethanol extract of noni orally by mixing in drinking water and the control group animals were maintained with plain drinking water. Healing was assessed by the rate of wound contraction, time until complete epithelialization, granulation tissue weight and hydoxyproline content. On day 11, the extract-treated animals exhibited 71% reduction in the wound area when compared with controls which exhibited 57%. The granulation tissue weight and hydroxyproline content in the dead space wounds were also increased significantly in noni-treated animals compared with controls (P < 0.002). Enhanced wound contraction, decreased epithelialization time, increased hydroxyproline content and histological characteristics suggest that noni leaf extract may have therapeutic benefits in wound healing.

Keywords: Morinda citrifolia; excision and dead space wound; hydroxyproline; wound healing.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Wound-healing activity of Noni leaf extract in male rats in comparison withcontrol (excision wound model, n = 6). Each bar represents mean ± SE. *P < 0.002 versus control (nonparametric Mann–Whitney U-test).
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Epithelialization time of noni leaf extract-treated male rats in comparison withcontrol (excision wound model, n = 6). Each bar represents mean ± SE. *P < 0.002 versus control (nonparametric Mann–Whitney U-test).
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Wet weight, dry weight and hydoxyproline content of the granulation tissue in comparison with control (dead space wound model, n = 6). Each bar represents mean ± SE. *P < 0.002 versus control (nonparametric Mann–Whitney U-test).
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Histology of the granulation tissue obtained from the test group rats treated with noni extract (Van Gieson stain), a: macrophages, b: fibroblasts, c: collagen fibres.
Figure 5.
Figure 5.
Histology of the granulation tissue obtained from the control rats received plain water (Van Gieson stain), a: macrophages, b: fibroblasts, c: collagen fibres.
Figure 6.
Figure 6.
The schematic diagram showing the possible effect of the M. citrifolia leaf extract in promoting wound-healing activity.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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