Efficacy of Nanoencapsulated Herbal Extracts in the Treatment of Induced Wounds in Animal Models: A Systematic Review Protocol.

Abstract

Background: Wounds inflict pain and affect human health causing high expenditure on treatment and management. Herbal crude extracts are used in traditional medicine as a treatment for wounds and other illnesses. However, the progress in the use of plants has been deterred due to their poor solubility and, poor bioavailability requiring administration at high doses. It has been established that nanoencapsulation of herbal products in nanocarriers (size 1nm to 100nm) such as nanofibers, nanoparticles, nanospheres, and nanoliposomes greatly improves their efficacy. Due to their small and large surface area, nanocarriers are more biologically active, improve bioavailability, protect the drug from deterioration, and release it to the targeted site in a sustainable manner. Aim: The review aims to collate and appraise evidence on the efficacy of nano encapsulated herbal exracts in the treatment of induced wounds in animal models. Methods: The review will be protocol-driven and conducted according to the Preferred Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-analysis for Protocols (PRISMA-P) and protocol guidelines for systematic review and meta-analysis for animal intervention studies. The final review will be conducted and reported with reference to (PRISMA) 2020 statement. Studies will be searched in Pub Med, ProQuest, Web of Science, MEDLINE, EMBASE, and Google Scholar. The PRISMA flow criteria will be followed in screening the articles for inclusion. Data extraction form will be designed in Excel spreadsheet 2013 and data extracted based on the primary and secondary outcome. Risk of bias assessment will be done using SYRCLE’s risk of bias tool for animal studies. Data analysis will be done using narrative and quantitative synthesis. Expected results: We hope to make meaningful comparisons between the effectiveness of the herb-loaded nanomaterials and other interventions (controls) in the selected studies, based on the primary and secondary outcome measures. We expect that these findings inform clinical practice on whether preclinical studies show enough quality evidence on the efficacy and safety of herbal-loaded nanomaterials that can be translated into clinical trials and further research. Registration; the protocol was submitted in PROSPERO open-access database on 11th May 2022 with application number 330330.