PURPOSE:To evaluate wound contraction and the concentration of mast cells in skin wounds treated with 5% BPT essential oil-based ointment in rats.METHODS:Twenty rats, male, of adult age, were submitted to skin surgery on the right (RA) and left antimeres (LA) of the thoracic region. They were divided into two groups: control (RA - wounds receiving daily topical application of vaseline and lanolin) and treated (LA - wounds treated daily with the topical ointment). The skin region with wounds were collected at days 4, 7, 14 and 21 after surgery. Those were fixed in 10% formaldehyde and later processed for paraffin embedding. Sections were obtained and stained by H.E for histopathology analysis. The degree of epithelial contraction was measured and mast cell concentration were also evaluated.RESULTS:The treated group showed higher mast cell concentrations (p<0.05) associated with increased contraction at day 7 and 14 respectively.CONCLUSION: Ointment containing 5% Brazilian pepper tree oil increases mast cell concentration and promotes skin wound contraction in rats.

A Mandevilla velutina crude extract was investigated using the mouse micronucleus test (MNT) and the Drosophila melanogaster somatic mutation and recombination test (SMART) using standard (ST) and high bioactivation (HB) crosses. The MNT used 10 mg, 20 mg or 40 mg per 100 g of body weight (bw) of extract with and without 0.2 mg per 100 g bw peritoneal cyclophosphamide. There was no genotoxicity in the negative control or extract only groups and, compared to the cyclophosphamide control, there was a significant reduction in micronucleated polychromatic erythrocytes in all the groups given extract plus cyclophosphamide. For SMART larvae were fed 5 or 10 mg mL-1 of extract for seven days with and without 0.89 mg mL-1 of urethane given on day seven. The ST and HB flies showed no significant differences in spots between the negative control and the extract only groups. The number of urethane-induced spots was reduced by the highest concentration of extract for the ST flies and by both concentrations of extract for the HB flies. The results suggest that M. velutina extract is not genotoxic but is antigenotoxic.