New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Healing The Wounds Of War: Novel Phytochemical Agent Enhances, Improves Process Of Wound Healing

Date:
October 28, 2007
Source:
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences
Summary:
Scientists have identified a novel phytochemical agent that enhances and improves the process of wound healing in normal and immune compromised people. They reported a novel compound Picroliv obtained from the roots of a plant Picrorhiza kurrooa enhances the rate of wound healing by principally enhancing the restoration of the blood supply to the damaged tissue.
Share:
FULL STORY

Researchers at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USU) have identified a novel phytochemical agent that enhances and improves the process of wound healing in normal and immune compromised people.

Dr. Radha Maheshwari, professor of Pathology at USU, along with Anuj Sharma, graduate student and other colleagues, reported a novel compound Picroliv obtained from the roots of a plant Picrorhiza kurrooa enhances the rate of wound healing by principally enhancing the restoration of the blood supply to the damaged tissue.

Previous work from Dr. Maheshwari’s laboratory has shown that Picroliv also protects from the injuries induced by hypoxia and reoxygenation and upreulates the expression pf vascular endothelial growth factor in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and of insulin-like growth factor in rats during hypoxia.

These findings suggest that Picroliv could be developed as a therapeutic angiogenic agent for the restoration of the blood supply in diseases involving inadequate blood supply such as limb ischemia, ischemic myocardium and wound healing.

This work supported by funding from National Institutes of Health has important implications in understanding the underlying process important for wound healing and developing agents that can enhance these processes. Wounds and their treatment remain a major area of research for military combat causality and civilian traumatic injuries and this research identifies a potential therapeutic compound that may be developed for treatment of wounds.

The journal article was published in the March 2007 edition of the Journal Planta Medica.


Story Source:

Materials provided by Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Cite This Page:

Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. "Healing The Wounds Of War: Novel Phytochemical Agent Enhances, Improves Process Of Wound Healing." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 28 October 2007. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071027110135.htm>.
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. (2007, October 28). Healing The Wounds Of War: Novel Phytochemical Agent Enhances, Improves Process Of Wound Healing. ScienceDaily. Retrieved November 13, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071027110135.htm
Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. "Healing The Wounds Of War: Novel Phytochemical Agent Enhances, Improves Process Of Wound Healing." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071027110135.htm (accessed November 13, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES