Molecular effect of Silver nanoparticles on wound healing activity of Salvia officinalis extract in adult mice

Objective(s): This study assessed how Silver nanoparticles (Ag NPs) and hydroalcoholic extract of Salvia officinalis (Sage) influence the expression levels of the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) genes, which play a role in wound healing.Methods: An excision wound was induced on the back of the 48 adult male mice. Wound treatments done with AgNPs and Salvia officinalis extract in separate animal groups for 14 days. On two weeks after treatment, the wound skin tissue was removed and gene expression analysis was done by real-time polymerase chain reaction.Results: The results showed that the expression of both target genes (VEGF and MMP2) in the wound skins treated with 0.05% Ag NPs increased significantly compared with the wound skin of control. The expression of VEGF gene increased significantly in the wound tissues treated with Sage extract compared with the Vaseline group, but the expression of MMP2 gene didn’t change significantly. The expression of two target genes increased significantly in the wound tissues treated with 0.5% Sage extract plus 0.05% Ag NPs in comparison to the wound tissues treated with 0.5% Sage extract alone. The expression of the two target genes did not significantly differ in the wound tissues treated with Sage extract and Ag NPs compared to those treated with 0.05% Ag NPs alone.Conclusions: Based on the results above, it can be concluded that the combination of hydroalcoholic extract of sage and low doses of Ag NPs exhibits significant healing activity and could serve as a viable option for wound healing management.