Phytochemical characterization and in vitro wound healing activity of leaf extracts from Combretum mucronatum Schum. & Thonn.: Oligomeric procyanidins as strong inductors of cellular differentiation.

BACKGROUND

Leaves from Combretum mucronatum Schum. & Thonn. are traditionally used for wound healing in Western Africa. Aqueous and hydroalcoholic extracts of the dried leaves recently have been shown to stimulate viability of human keratinocytes and dermal fibroblasts.

OBJECTIVE

Phytochemical characterization of the herbal material, development of a validated HPLC methodology for quality control, and pinpointing the underlying pharmacological mechanism under in vitro conditions to understand the impact of C. mucronatum extracts on human skin cells.

METHODS

Extracts obtained from the leaves from C. mucronatum by using solvents with different polarities (petrol ether, dichloromethane, ethanol-water 50%, water) were investigated concerning phytochemical composition by GC-MS, LC-MS and in part after fractionation and isolation of purified compounds. For quality control of the herbal material an ICH-2 validated UHPLC method was developed for quantification of the lead compounds epicatechin, procyanidin B2, vitexin and isovitexin. In vitro studies were performed using HaCaT keratinocyte cell line, primary keratinocytes and primary skin fibroblasts with determination of viability (MTT assay), cell proliferation (BrdU incorporation ELISA), cell toxicity (LDH release) and keratinocyte differentiation, using involucrin and keratin K10 as differentiation marker (confocal laser scanning microscopy, Western blot).

RESULTS

A detailed phytochemical composition analysis of the extracts from the leaves from C. mucronatum was performed (compounds 1-34) and epicatechin, procyanidin B2, vitexin and isovitexin are assessed to be the lead compounds of the polar extract. Quantitative UHPLC investigations indicated mature leaves to have higher polyphenol content in comparison to young leaves. The drying process of the plant material was shown to have great influence on the content of the lead compounds. The aqueous extract (0.1-100μg/mL) did not change cell viability of dermal fibroblasts and keratinocytes but inhibited cellular proliferation rates significantly at 100μg/mL. The extract stimulated cellular differentiation of primary keratinocytes significantly at 1 and 10μg/mL. Procyanidin B2 at 1 and 10µM was shown to be responsible for the induction of this cellular differentiation, while epicatechin, and procyanidins B5, C1 and D1 were inactive.

CONCLUSIONS

The in vitro effects of the aqueous extract on the skin cells rationalized the remedial effect in wound healing and possibly accounts for the reason why this plant may be widely used for this purpose. On the basis of this study extracts from the leaves of C. mucronatum therefore have potential for the use in wound healing.