Elkhateeb OM, Badawy MEI, Noreldin AE, Abou-Ahmed HM, El-Kammar MH, Elkhenany HA. Comparative evaluation of propolis nanostructured lipid carriers and its crude extract for antioxidants, antimicrobial activity, and skin regeneration potential.
BMC Complement Med Ther 2022;
22:256. [PMID:
36192714 PMCID:
PMC9528112 DOI:
10.1186/s12906-022-03737-4]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/05/2022] [Accepted: 09/20/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022] Open
Abstract
Background
Propolis extracted from beehives has been conferred with natural antimicrobial and antioxidant properties. Hence, it has been recommended as a wound healing therapy. This study investigated the additive value of nanotechnology to the herbal extract, (propolis rebuts), after which we examined its efficacy in wound healing.
Methods
Propolis nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs) were first prepared using the emulsion-evaporation-solidification method at three concentrations. Then, we compared their flavonoid and phenolic contents and phenolic contents. Their antioxidant, antibacterial, and antifungal effects were also investigated after which, the skin regenerative capacity of propolis-NLCs was assessed using full-thickness skin wounds in rabbits.
Results
This study showed that propolis-NLCs had increased the phenolic and flavonoid contents compared to the raw propolis extract (EXTR) (9-fold and 2-fold, respectively). This increase was reflected in their antioxidant activities, which dramatically increased by 25-fold higher than the propolis-EXTR. Also, propolis-NLCs exhibited a 2-fold higher potent inhibitory effect than propolis-EXTR on Gram-positive bacteria (Bacillus subtilis and Staphylococcus aureus), Gram-negative bacterium (Salmonella spp.), and fungus (Candida albicans) microbes (p < 0.0001). Investigations also revealed that treatment of full-thickness skin injuries with propolis-NLCs resulted in significantly higher wound closure compared to propolis-EXTR and the control after two weeks (p < 0.0001).
Conclusion
With a prominent broad-spectrum antibacterial effect propolis-NLCs exhibited higher skin regenerative potency than propolis-EXTR. We also highlighted the additive impact of nanotechnology on herbal extract, which accounted for the increased flavonoid content and hence a better antioxidant and antimicrobial effect and propose it as a potential therapy for wound healing.
Supplementary Information
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12906-022-03737-4.
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