INCISION-WOUND HEALING ACTIVITY OF SUNFLOWER SEED OIL (HELIANTHUS ANNUUS L. IN VIVO AND IN SILICO STUDY

Sunflower seed oil (SFO) (Helianthus annuus L.) is rich in oleic acid and unsaturated fatty acids and can potentially treat various ailments. To validate the ethno-therapeutic claims of the SFO in skin diseases, the incision wound healing activity was studied. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the chemical content and incision wound-healing activities of SFO. Twenty-seven adult male Wistar rats were used, and a 2 cm length and 2 mm depth incision was made on the back of the rat. The rats were administered SFO, povidone iodine (PI), or were left untreated as a control group. Histological evaluations were conducted on postoperative wound tissue biopsies on days 0, 5 and 10. The SFO compounds were assessed using GC/MS analysis, and a subsequent in silico investigation was conducted based on the GC/MS findings. The binding affinity of these compounds to TNF-α, VEGFR1, IGFR1 and TGF-β1 was evaluated. On day 10, sunflower seed oil topical application accelerated wound healing by decreasing wound area and increasing wound contraction compared to untreated and PI-treated wounds. Moreover, granulation tissue expanded more, and the epidermis fully recovered. Twenty-four active compounds were detected using GC/MS, and six are responsible for lipid metabolism regulation and anti-inflammatory activity. The in silico study showed that 9,10-Secocholesta-5,7,10(19)-triene-3,24,25-triol (3ß,5Z,7E) had a high affinity of-8.5 kcal/mol for TNF-α. The conclusion of this study shows that SFO has incision wound healing activity in vivo and in silico by controlling the inflammatory phase and proangiogenic factors with a high affinity to bind to TNF-α in the skin tissue.