Wound healing potentials of a herbal homeopathic remedy on NIH 3T3 fibroblasts in vitro

This study was aimed to investigate the effect of the commercial homeopathic herbal remedy Similasan® Arnica plus Spray (Similasan AG, Jonen, Switzerland), which is an ethanolic (22% m/m) preparation of Arnica montana L. D4, Calendula officinalis L. D4, Hypericum perforatum L. D4 and Symphytum officinale L. D6 (0712–2), on wound healing in cultured NIH 3T3 fibroblasts. Wound healing requires the coordination of complex cellular and molecular interactions. Therefore we investigated the cell proliferation, migration and wound closure promoting effect of the preparation and its potentized hydroalcoholic solvent (0712–1) using BrdU uptake, transwell chamber assay and wound healing scratch assay, respectively. All assays were performed in a controlled, blinded manner at least in three independent experiments. The preparation (0712–2) exerted a stimulating effect on cell migration 31.7% vs. 15% solvent (0712–1) at 1:100 dilutions (p<0.05, n=3). Mean wound closure reached 59.5% by preparation in comparison to 22.1% by solvent (p<0.05, n=3) at the same concentration. Positive control (5% FCS) caused 63.0% closure. There was no effect of cell proliferation. In conclusion, the Similasan® Arnica plus homeopathic remedy showed wound healing activity in the NIH 3T3 fibroblasts scratch assay, which may be partly a result of fibroblasts migration and does not seem to be related to mitotic activity. Keywords: wound healing, 3T3 fibroblasts, homeopathic preparation