RESUMO
There is an increasing interest in the use of herbal remedies as healing agents, due to their lower cost in relation to other drugs and the vast Brazilian fauna. The objective of this research was to evaluate the cicatrization effect of the guariroba leaf (Campomanesia pubescens) on the healing of infected wounds. We used 45 Wistar rats, distributed in five groups (n = 9) all with surgically induced skin injury, differing in the presence of contamination and treatment, with evaluation periods of 3, 7 and 14 days, being: G1- negative control without contamination, treated with Physiological Solution 0.9%; G2- control with contamination, treated with Physiological Solution 0.9%; G3 negative with contamination, treated with Carbopol in 0.5% gel; G4- positive control with contamination, treated with Colagenase at 0.6 U / g + 0.01 g Chloramphenicol; G5- positive test with contamination treated with Campomanesia pubescens at 3%, whose vehicle was Carbopol at 0.5%. The wound was made with a metal punch 8 mm in diameter, and a cutaneous fragment was removed from the animals' backs and wound infection was applied to S. aureus in groups G2 to G5. Euthanasia was performed for a lethal dose of anesthetic, and the edges of the wounds were removed for histopathological study. The fibrinoleukocytic crust was present in all animals in the groups of 3, 7 and 14 days. The contraction of the wound was also evaluated, and all groups showed low percentage of wound regression in the 3-day treatment and with 14 days presented a high percentage of regression. Of the 5 groups, the only one that presented complete epithelialization was G5. Of the 5 groups, the ones with the best epithelialization were G4 and G5. The group with the highest amount of mature collagen fibers was G4, followed by G5, and the one with the highest proportion of immature fibers was G1. At the end of the experiment, G4 was the group that gained the most weight and G1 the one that had the lowest weight gain. Guariroba leaf extract (Campomanesia pubescens) was able to promote healing in infected skin wounds similar to the group treated with antibiotics.