Historically, plant-based products have been the basis of medicine since before the advent of modern Western medicine. Wound dressings made of honey, curcumin and other phytochemical-rich compounds have been traditionally used. Recently, the mechanisms behind many of these traditional therapies have come to light. In this review, we show that in the context of wound healing, there is a global theme of anti-inflammatory and antioxidant phytochemicals in traditional medicine. Although promising, we discuss the limitations of using some of these phytochemicals in order to warrant more research, ideally in randomized clinical trial settings.
Keywords: phytochemicals, inflammatory cytokines, wound healing, burns, chronic wounds, wound infections, hypertrophic scarring, curcumin, honey, Terminalia
Author Biography
Saeid Amini-Nik, Department of Surgery, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada
Sunnybrook Research Institute, Sunnybrook Health Science Centre, Toronto, ON M5S 1A8, Canada
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