Original article Wound healing and anti-inflammatory activity of some Ononis taxons Burçin Ergene Öz a, *, Gülçin Saltan _ Işcan b , Esra Küpeli Akkol b , _ Ipek Süntar b , Hikmet Keleş c , Özlem Bahadır Acıkara a a Ankara University Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmacognosy Department, 06100, Tandogan, Çankaya, Ankara, Turkey b Gazi University Faculty of Pharmacy, Pharmacognosy Department, 06330, Etiler, Yenimahalle, Ankara, Turkey c Afyon Kocatepe University, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Pathology Department, 03200, Afyonkarahisar, Turkey A R T I C L E I N F O Article history: Received 23 March 2017 Received in revised form 5 May 2017 Accepted 8 May 2017 Keywords: Fabaceae Inflammation Ononis Wound healing A B S T R A C T Ononis species are used for their laxative, diuretic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, cytotoxic and antifungal effects as well as against skin diseases for wound healing activity. In the light of this information n-hexane, ethylacetate and methanol extracts prepared from Ononis spinosa L. subsp. leiosperma (Boiss.) Sirj., Ononis variegata L., Ononis viscosa L. subsp. brevifolia (DC) Nym. and Ononis natrix L. subsp. natrix L. were tested for their wound healing, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities. Linear incision and circular excision wound models and hydroxypyroline estimation assay were used for the wound healing activity. For the assessment of chronic inflammation FCA-induced arthritis and for acute inflammation carrageenan-induced hind paw edema, TPA-induced ear edema and acetic acid- induced increase in capillary permeability tests were conducted. 2,2-diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging assay, 2,2-azino-bis-(3-ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) (ABTS) scavenging activity assay, reducing power assay and hydroxyl radical (OH  ) scavenging assay were used for determining antioxidant activities of the extracts. Results showed that O. spinosa subsp. leiosperma roots ethyl acetate extract exhibited remarkable wound healing activity with the 42.6% tensile strength value on the linear incision wound model and 60.1% reduction of the wound area at the day 12 on the circular excision wound model. Hydroxyproline content of the tissue treated by O. spinosa subsp. leiosperma roots ethyl acetate extract was found to be 41.3 mg/mg. Acetic acid induced increase in capillary permeability test results revealed that O. spinosa subsp. leiosperma roots ethyl acetate extract and O. spinosa subsp. leiosperma roots methanol extract inhibited inflammation by 40.4% and 35.4% values respectively. O. spinosa subsp. leiosperma roots ethyl acetate extract showed 21.2-27.2% inhibition in carrageenan- induced hind paw edema test while did not posses activity on TPA-induced ear edema and FCA-induced arthritis models. © 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The genus Ononis L. which is a member of Fabaceae family, grows widespread in Europe, Atlantic Islands, West Asia and North Africa. The genus is represented by more than 75 species all over the world and by 18 species in Turkey. This genus is especially distributed closed to the coasts of Mediterranean Sea [1–3]. It is reported that Ononis species are used for their laxative, diuretic, analgesic, anti-inflammatory, antiviral, cytotoxic and antifungal effects as well as against skin diseases for wound healing activity [4,5]. The roots of Ononis spinosa L., Ononis arvensis L., Ononis hircina Jacg. and Ononis antiquorum L. are known to be used against irritations of the skin, itches, wounds and dermatitis in Central Asia and Russia [6]. The extracts prepared from O. natrix are used as antirheumatismal, antibacterial, diuretic, urolithiatic and to reduce blood pressure [1,7,8]. Ethnobotanical studies revealed that other species of this genus such as O. sicula (Guss.) Hub.-Mor. and O. hirta Desf. were used for the wound healing as well as against cold sore as antiseptic [9]. O. spinosa which is widely known as “kayiskiran” in Turkey, is used as a folk remedy against urinary tract diseases and kidney stones due to its anti- inflammatory and diuretic effect as well as against eczema and some other skin disorders for wound healing [10,11]. * Corresponding author. E-mail address: ergene@pharmacy.ankara.edu.tr (B. Ergene Öz). http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopha.2017.05.040 0753-3322/© 2017 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy 91 (2017) 1096–1105 Available online at ScienceDirect www.sciencedirect.com