Harnessing traditional herbal medicine: molecular insights into diabetic wound healing for modern therapeutics

This study aims to explore the molecular aspects of the wound-healing potential of medicinal plants through preclinical and clinical research. This review focuses on the theoretical support and therapeutic effects of traditional herbal plants, herbal formulations, and active compounds in herbal medicine. It provides new insights into the management of diabetic wound healing with herbal medicine. A comprehensive literature review was conducted using keywords such as “herbal remedies” “diabetics” “wounds” “bioactive” “medicinal plant” and “growth factor” across several literature databases, namely, Wiley Online Library, Elsevier, Springer, PubMed, and Google Scholar. The available literature provides a basis for traditional remedies found to be effective in healing wounds by targeting key molecules involved in wound pathology, including collagen I & III, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB), transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1, hydroxyproline (collagen component), superoxide dismutase (SOD), and Catalase (CAT). Numerous studies have investigated the presence of bioactive compounds in many plants for their wound-healing effects. The results underscore the potential of various plants in wound healing, highlighting the need for further pharmacological research before clinical application. These findings support the conventional use of herbal remedies and provide the basis for future research into the development of new therapeutic alternatives for wound healing.