Skin wound healing is a complex process where blood cells, the extracellular matrix, and parenchymal cells are involved to restore the damaged tissue. There is a difference between healing and regenerating of the skin, which is interesting in several branches of dermatology such as aging, and recovery upon skin burns. Furthermore, a 2D wound healing assay developed by our research group is an effective and rapid tool to simulate this process and to assess the effectiveness of compounds derived from natural products as candidates for bioactive components of emulsions. Nature is the principal source of biomedicines and amphibian secretions are particularly rich on them. Specifically, the peptide CW49 has been reported to exhibit regenerative and antibacterial properties in mouse skin wounds. Besides, lavender essential oil has been associated with a sustained enhancement of the healing process and the potent anti-inflammatory effects. Therefore, emulsions of <i>Lavandula angustifolia</i> essential oil and CW49 peptide are proposed as potential enhancers of the healing and regenerative processes of skin wounds. To accomplish this, we prepared an oil-in-water (O /W) emulsion at a ratio of 10:90% w/w, supplemented with a surfactant at a ratio of 60:40% and in the presence of Carbopol as a thickener agent, with a lavender essential oil concentration of 0.5% w/w.  The obtained emulsions were characterized physicochemically and evaluated in terms of biocompatibility, antibacterial activity and wound healing potential. The results showed that emulsions exhibit a droplet size ~1 µm, a marked pseudoplastic behavior and a superior stability over 9 months. Additionally, they are 70% hemolytic (comparable with commercial controls) and induced platelet aggregation. The regenerative potential was preliminary evaluated for the CW49 peptide by increasing its concentration in a 2D wound model in human keratinocytes, demonstrating an effective concentration of 20μg/mL. These wound models are currently being replicated for different concentrations of lavender essential oil and with this, it is expected to proceed to synthesize and evaluate the final emulsion with the peptide and lavender in a 2D wound healing model with human keratinocytes and fibroblasts. Up to this point, all these results lead to the conclusion that the proposed emulsion can be a great candidate as a topical treatment for wound healing.

Assessing the regenerative effect of  lavender oil and CW49 peptide emulsions in a 2D wound healing model

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