| Summary: | <p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Drugs of plant origin such as <it>Arnica montana</it>, <it>Calendula officinalis</it> or <it>Hypericum perforatum</it> have been frequently used to promote wound healing. While their effect on wound healing using preparations at pharmacological concentrations was supported by several <it>in vitro</it> and clinical studies, investigations of herbal homeopathic remedies on wound healing process are rare. The objective of this study was to investigate the effect of a commercial low potency homeopathic remedy Similasan® Arnica plus Spray on wound closure in a controlled, blind trial <it>in vitro</it>.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We investigated the effect of an ethanolic preparation composed of equal parts of <it>Arnica montana</it> 4x, <it>Calendula officinalis</it> 4x, <it>Hypericum perforatum</it> 4x and <it>Symphytum officinale</it> 6x (0712–2), its succussed hydroalcoholic solvent (0712–1) and unsuccussed solvent (0712–3) on NIH 3T3 fibroblasts. Cell viability was determined by WST-1 assay, cell growth using BrdU uptake, cell migration by chemotaxis assay and wound closure by CytoSelect ™Wound Healing Assay Kit which generated a defined “wound field”. All assays were performed in three independent controlled experiments.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>None of the three substances affected cell viability and none showed a stimulating effect on cell proliferation. Preparation (0712–2) exerted a stimulating effect on fibroblast migration (31.9%) vs 14.7% with succussed solvent (0712–1) at 1:100 dilutions (p < 0.001). Unsuccussed solvent (0712–3) had no influence on cell migration (6.3%; p > 0.05). Preparation (0712–2) at a dilution of 1:100 promoted <it>in vitro</it> wound closure by 59.5% and differed significantly (p < 0.001) from succussed solvent (0712–1), which caused 22.1% wound closure.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Results of this study showed that the low potency homeopathic remedy (0712–2) exerted <it>in vitro</it> wound closure potential in NIH 3T3 fibroblasts. This effect resulted from stimulation of fibroblasts motility rather than of their mitosis.</p>
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