Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities of menthol in skin wound healing

Abstract

The wound healing has been reasons to working over the years and the search for topical treatments to help in this process generated new pharmacotherapy, with large exploration of the animal products. The scar process steps described by authors are joined and receiving in general terms the following designation: inflammation, proliferation and maturation. Menthol is a terpene found in essential oils extracted from plants of the genus Mentha. This aim of this project is to evaluate the effect of menthol-based cream in skin wound healing, elucidating the mechanism of action. Male Wistar rats (n=8) will be randomly divided in five groups: cream base (control group), collagenase (positive control), and menthol-based cream at 0,25%, 0,5% or 1%. The animals will be anesthetized, and subsequently wounds in the dorsal region will be developed with the aid of a punch. Every day, the wounds will be treated, photographed and measured. The rats will be euthanized after 3, 7 or 14 days of treatment (in agreement with the phases which are described in the literature). Menthol antioxidant activity will be assessed in the skin samples, through ELISA method, by measuring the level of glutathione (GSH), and the activity of glutathione peroxidase (GPx) and reductase (GR), superoxide dismutase (SOD) and myeloperoxidase (MPO). The anti-inflammatory activity of menthol will be analyzed in the blood plasma, through ELISA's kits of cytokines TNF-±, IL-6 and IL-10. This project is linked on the post-doctoral project of the Doctor Ariane Leite Rozza (Fapesp process 2013/22202-4) and the regular support by Fapesp 2013/23340-1.