AUTHOR=Muthukumar Balakrishnan , Nandini M. S. , Elumalai Punniyakotti , Balakrishnan Muthuraj , Satheeshkumar Azhargarsamy , AlSalhi Mohamad S. , Devanesan Sandhanasamy , Parthipan Punniyakotti , Rajasekar Aruliah , Malik Tabarak 

TITLE=Enhancement of cell migration and wound healing by nano-herb ointment formulated with biosurfactant, silver nanoparticles and Tridax procumbens

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=14

YEAR=2023

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2023.1225769

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2023.1225769

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<sec id="sec1001"><title>Introduction</title><p>Ointments are generally used as a therapeutic agent for topical medication or transdermal drug delivery, such as wound healing and skin lesions.</p></sec><sec id="sec3003"><title>Methods</title><p>In this study, <italic>Tridax procumbens</italic> plant extract (0.7 g/mL) was used to prepare herbal-infused oil as the oil phase and gelatin-stabilized silver nanoparticle (G-AgNPs) (0.3 g/mL) as the aqueous phase. To blend the oil and aqueous phases, rhamnolipid biosurfactant with a critical micelle concentration of 55 mg/L from strain <italic>Pseudomonas aeruginosa</italic> PP4 has been used for herb ointment preparation. The average size of the synthesized G-AgNPs was observed between 10–30 nm and confirmed as spherical-shaped particles by TEM analysis. Subsequently, GC–MS and FTIR characterization are used to confirm herb ointment’s chemical and functional characteristics.</p></sec><sec id="sec4004"><title>Results</title><p>Based on the antibacterial studies, the highest microbial growth inhibition was observed for herb ointment, about 19.5 mm for the pathogen <italic>Staphylococcus aureus</italic> at the concentration of 100 μg/mL, whereas 15.5 mm was obtained for <italic>Escherichia coli,</italic> respectively. In addition, the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) assay showed negligible bacterial growth at 100 μg/mL for <italic>S. aureus</italic> and <italic>E. coli,</italic> respectively. Moreover, the cell viability assay for herb ointment exhibited low cytotoxic activity at higher concentrations (100 μg/mL) in Vero cell lines. In this study, wound scratch assay showed a significant cell migration rate (90 ± 2%) in 3 days of incubation than the control (62 ± 2%).</p></sec><sec id="sec5005"><title>Discussion</title><p>As a result, the biosurfactant-based nano-topical herb ointment revealed a low cytotoxic and higher cell migration capacity. Altogether, these findings highlighted the utility of this herb ointment in therapeutic applications such as wound healing.</p></sec>