review · Phytotherapy Research
Hypericum perforatum, commonly known as St John's Wort, demonstrates significant therapeutic potential across all phases of wound healing and tissue repair. Evidence synthesised from studies published between 1994 and 2023 shows that extracts of the plant possess antioxidant, antimicrobial, and anti-inflammatory properties that support the treatment of minor burns, sunburn, eczema, and skin injuries. The plant aids tissue repair by accelerating re-epithelialisation, collagen deposition, wound contraction, and connective tissue regeneration. It modulates cellular activity by increasing the number of polygonal fibroblasts and enhancing collagen fibres within these cells. Furthermore, extracts suppress critical inflammatory mediators, including interleukin-6, tumour necrosis factor-alpha, cyclooxygenase-2 gene expression, and inducible nitric oxide synthase. Through these combined cellular and anti-inflammatory mechanisms, the plant offers a biologically active basis for creating new topical wound treatments.
Wound care requires treatments that can manage infection, soothe inflammation, and rebuild damaged skin simultaneously. Demonstrating how Hypericum perforatum influences specific biological pathways confirms its value beyond traditional herbal medicine. By clarifying how its compounds stimulate collagen and reduce harmful inflammatory signals, this research supports the development of targeted, naturally derived interventions for acute wounds and chronic skin conditions.
The findings indicate potential applications in the formulation of topical wound care products, burn ointments, and dermatological therapies. Developers of wound dressings and skincare treatments could utilise these extracts to improve tissue regeneration and control inflammation. Because this review synthesises preclinical and mechanistic literature rather than clinical trial outcomes, the development of commercial therapeutics remains at an early to intermediate stage requiring further formulation optimisation and clinical validation.
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St. John's Wort, commonly known as Hypericum perforatum L., is a flowering plant in the Clusiaceae family that traditionally been employed for treating anxiety, depression, wounds, burns, sunburn, irritation, and stomach ailments. This review provides a synopsis of H. perforatum L. phytoconstituents and their biological effects, highlighting its beneficial therapeutic properties for dermatological indications, as well as its antioxidant, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, and anti-angiogenic activity in various applications including wound healing and skin conditions such as eczema, sun burn and minor burns also spastic paralysis, stiff neck and mood disorders as anti-depressant and nerve pains such as neuralgia. The data were collected from several databases as Web of Science PubMed, ScienceDirect, Scopus and Google Scholar using the terms: "H. perforatum L.", "H. perforatum L. /phytochemistry," and "H. perforatum extracts/wound healing" collected from 1994 to 2023. The findings suggest H. perforatum L. acts through various mechanisms and plays a role in each phase of the wound healing process, including re-epithelialization, angiogenesis, wound contraction, and connective tissue regeneration. H. perforatum L. enhances collagen deposition, decreases inflammation, inhibits fibroblast migration, and promotes epithelialization by increasing the number of fibroblasts with polygonal shape and the number of collagen fibers within fibroblasts. H. Perforatum L. extracts modulate the immune response and reduce inflammation were found to accelerate the wound healing process via inhibition of inflammatory mediators' production like interleukin-6, tumor necrosis factor-α, cyclooxygenase-2 gene expression, and inducible nitric oxide synthase. Thus, H. perforatum L. represents a potential remedy for a wide range of dermatological problems, owing to its constituents with beneficial therapeutic properties. H. perforatum L. could be utilized in the development of novel wound healing therapies.
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DOI: 10.1002/ptr.8204
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