Journal of Ethnopharmacology 134 (2011) 844–850 Contents lists available at ScienceDirect Journal of Ethnopharmacology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/jethpharm In vitro growth stimulatory and in vivo wound healing studies on cycloartane-type saponins of Astragalus genus Canan Sevimli-Gür a,d , ˙ Ilyas Onbas ¸ ılar b , Pergin Atilla c , Rükan Genc ¸ a , Nur C ¸ akar c , ˙ Ismet Delilo˘ glu-Gürhan a , Erdal Bedir a,∗ a Department of Bioengineering, Engineering Faculty, Ege University, Bornova, 35100 ˙ Izmir, Turkey b Experimental Animal Research and Husbandry Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey c Department of Histology and Embryology, Faculty of Medicine, Hacettepe University, 06100 Ankara, Turkey d Kocaeli University, Science and Art Faculty, Department of Biology, Kocaeli, Turkey article info Article history: Received 21 August 2010 Received in revised form 3 January 2011 Accepted 21 January 2011 Available online 1 February 2011 Dedicated to Prof. ˙ Ihsan C ¸ alıs ¸ on the occasion of his 60th birthday. Keywords: Astragalus Triterpene Cycloartane Wound healing abstract Aim of the study: The present study was undertaken to evaluate the wound healing effects of the four chief saponins of Astragalus species [cycloastragenol (CA), astragaloside IV (AG), cyclocephaloside I (CCI) and cyclocanthoside E (CCE)]. Material and methods: Effects of cell viability and proliferation of the isolated compounds were evaluated by the MTT assay on human keratinocyte. The wound healing activity was studied by using in vitro wound healing, proliferation and migration scratch assay. In order to see in vivo effectiveness of the compounds, an animal study with Sprague–Dawley male rats at the age of 12 weeks was carried out, and then the main histological outcomes were investigated to observe reepithelization, neovascularization, and presence of inflammatory cells, granulation tissue amount and maturation. Results: All the compounds increased both fibroblast proliferation and migration, but the effects were much superior for CA at 1 ng/ml concentration. Among the compounds, based on the histological findings, 5% CA preparation was found to be the most remarkable in vivo wound healing agent showing greater cell density, more regularly organized dermis and more newly formed blood vessels. Conclusion: Results of this study indicate that the cycloartane-type saponins are the principal constituents responsible for wound healing activities of the roots of Astragalus species substantiating its use in tradi- tional medicine. © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. 1. Introduction The World Health Organization estimates that 80% of the world’s population still relies on plant-based medicines for their primary health care, and it is estimated that the third most common rea- son for medical visits in the developing world is for skin disorders, especially wounds. Wound care can be traced back to early civiliza- tions and many of these treatments were based on the use of herbal remedies (Ryan and Cherry, 1996). Astragalus L., the largest genus in the family Leguminosae, is represented by 380 species in the flora of Turkey (Davis, 1970). The roots of Astragalus species represent a very old and well-known drug in Traditional Chinese Medicine for its usage as an antiper- spirant, tonic and diuretic. It has also been used in the treatment ∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +90 232 388 4955; fax: +90 232 388 4955. E-mail addresses: erdal.bedir@ege.edu.tr, erdalbedir@gmail.com (E. Bedir). of diabetes mellitus, nephritis, leukemia and uterine cancer (Tang and Eisenbrand, 1992). In the district of Anatolia, located in South Eastern Turkey, an aqueous extract of the roots of Astragalus is traditionally used against leukemia and for its wound-healing properties. Known bio- logically active constituents of Astragalus roots represent two major classes of chemical compounds, polysaccharides and cycloartane- type saponins (Tang and Eisenbrand, 1992). Cycloartanes occupy a special position among low molecular bioregulators because they are produced by photosynthesizing organisms only, and one from the initial representatives of this range, cycloartenol serves as key link in the biosynthesis of dif- ferent phytosterols. In this connection, cycloartenol and its weakly polar derivatives widespread in the plant kingdom. In the main, the plants of Astragalus genera proved to be the richest source of this class of compounds. Up to now, about four hundred cycloartane-type saponins were determined and one hundred and sixty of them were isolated from Astragalus genus (Mamedova and Isaev, 2004). 0378-8741/$ – see front matter © 2011 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved. doi:10.1016/j.jep.2011.01.030