The ability of horse chestnut extract (
HCE) to induce contraction force in fibroblasts, a process with remarkable significance in skin repair, motivated us to evaluate its wound healing potential in a series of experiments. In the in vitro study of the ability of human dermal fibroblasts to form myofibroblast-like cells was evaluated at the
protein level (Western blot and immunofluorescence). The in vivo study was conducted on male Sprague-Dawley rats with inflicted
wounds (one open circular and one sutured incision) on their backs. Rats were topically treated with two tested
HCE concentrations (0.1% and 1%) or sterile water. The control group remained untreated. The incisions were processed for
wound tensile strength (TS) measurement whereas the open
wounds were subjected to histological examination. On the in vitro level the
HCE extract induced
fibronectin-rich extracellular matrix formation, but did not induced α-smooth muscle actin (SMA) expression in dermal fibroblasts. The animal study revealed that
HCE increased
wound TS and improved
collagen organization. In conclusion, the direct comparison of both basic
wound models demonstrated that the healing was significantly increased following
HCE, thus this extract may be found useful to improve healing of acute
wounds. Nevertheless, the use of an experimental rat model warrants a direct extrapolation to the human clinical situation.