Aqueous extract of Centella asiatica promotes corneal epithelium wound healing in vitro

Centella asiatica is a traditional herbal medicine that has been shown to have pharmacological effect on skin wound healing, and could be potential therapeutic agent for corneal epithelial wound healing.

This study was done to evaluate the effects of Centella asiatica on the proliferation and migration of rabbit corneal epithelial (RCE) cells in the in vitro wound healing model.

RCE cells were cultured with or without supplementation of Centella asiatica aqueous extract. Viability and proliferation of the RCE cells was determined by MTT assay and cell cycle was analyzed by flow cytometry. In vitro re-epithelization was studied by scratch assay and migration rate was evaluated quantitatively by image analyzer. Expression of corneal specific differentiation markers, CK12 and connexin 43, were studied via RT-PCR.

It was found that supplementation of Centella asiatica did not show any significant effect on the RCE cells proliferation at the concentration up to 500ppm, while at the concentration of 1000ppm significantly inhibited RCE cells proliferation (p<0.05). However, at the concentration up to 62.5ppm, RCE cells shows significant enhancement of migration rate compared to the control group (p<0.05). It was also found that the supplementation of Centella asiatica aqueous extract did not alter the expression of differentiation markers and cell cycle.

In conclusion, supplementation of Centella asiatica aqueous extract at low concentrations could be useful to promote corneal epithelium wound healing.