Asiaticoside-induced elevation of antioxidant levels in healing wounds

Asiaticoside derived from the plant Centella asiatica is known to possess g ood wound healing activity. Enhanced healing activity has been attributed t o increased collagen formation and angiogenesis, Since antioxidants have be en reported to play a significant role in the wound healing process we stud ied the effect of asiaticoside on the levels of certain antioxidants in the wound so as to explore the possible involvement of such a mechanism in the asiaticoside induced wound healing, asiaticoside application (0.25, topica l) twice daily for 7 days to excision-type cutaneous wounds in rats led to increased enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants, namely superoxide dismu tase (35%), catalase (67%), glutathione peroxidase (49%), vitamin E (77%) a nd ascorbic acid (36%) in newly formed tissues. It also resulted in a sever al fold decrease in lipid peroxide levels (69%) as measured In terms of thi obarbituric acid reactive substance. However, continued application for 14 days showed no significant difference in these antioxidants compared with t heir values in vehicle treated wound tissue, It appears from the present st udy that asiaticosides enhanced induction of antioxidant levels at an initi al stage of healing which may be an important contributory factor in the he aling properties of this substance. (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.