Evaluation of <i>Punica granatum</i> Peel Against Diabetic Wound Infection

Abstract

Background: Foot infections are a common and serious problem in diabetic patients.
Objectives: To investigate the antibacterial activity of some medicinal plants used by traditional healers for diabetic wounds and to examine in-vivo wound healing activity of active extracts.
Materials and Methods: An experimental study in which fifteen plant extracts subjected to preliminary antibacterial screening against six standard organisms (Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus) using cup-plate agar diffusion method and the result was compared with activity of commonly used antibiotics. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for active extracts using agar plate dilution method. The two extracts was screened against 180 clinical isolates obtained from diabetic wound infection. In this study the wound healing effect of methanolic extracts of Punicagranatum peels was tested on open skin wound model on Swiss Wistar Albino rats.
Results: Fourteen extracts (93.3%) exhibited inhibitory activity against one or more of the six organisms. The MICs of the methanolic and aqueous extracts of Punica granatum were very low against all organisms. 180 clinical isolates were obtained from diabetic wound infection, the results of identification showed that 30 were Escherichia coli, 15 Klebsiella pneumoniae, 45 Proteus spp, 15 Pseudomonas aeruginosa, 60 Staphylococcus aureus and 15 Staphylococcus epidermidis. The methanolic extract of Punica granatum peels had inhibitory effect against 99.4% of the isolates at concentration 100mg/ml. The aqueous extract has inhibitory effect against 91.7% of the isolates. Results were obtained by measuring the wound healing percentage. In the first group, healing was completed in 15 days. In the second group and third group, 13 days were required for the completion of healing.
Conclusion: The results of this study indicated that the methanolic extract of Punica granatum had high antibacterial activity and have wound healing activity.

Key words: Antimicrobial activity, wound healing, Punica granatum.