Structural, rheological and therapeutic properties of pluronic F127 hydrogel and beeswax based lavender oil ointment formulations.

[Display omitted] • Beeswax and Pluronic F127 hydrogel based lavender oil (LO) formulations have been explored as wound healing ointments. • Rheological and spreading studies show that these ointments are suitable for topical applications. • SANS and SAXS studies suggest that solubilized LO remain trapped in the self-assembled structures formed by these systems. • The confined LO fails to exhibit antimicrobial properties but do show wound healing ability from pluronic hydrogel bases. • The studies show that choice of ointment base is important for LO to exhibit antimicrobial and wound healing properties. Since ancient time, Lavender oil (LO) is being used in aromatherapy as antimicrobial, anxiolytic, analgesic and anti-inflammatory agents. More recently it has been observed that its topical application heals various kinds of wounds by expediting epithelialization and neovascularization processes. Its wound healing characteristics with different delivery systems are however, scarcely reported. The aim of the present study was to evaluate how its healing abilities are manifested when it is applied in the form of beeswax-oil and pluronic F127 hydrogel based ointments. The ointments were prepared by solubilizing or dispersing LO in pluronic F127 hydrogel, beeswax-olive oil, and beeswax-coconut oil based bases. Small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) studies suggest that the prepared ointments are composed of LO solubilized beeswax-oil and F127-water based self- assembled structures. The rheological and spreading properties of the ointments are found to be suitable for topical applications. The ointments do not exhibit any noticeable antimicrobial actions on gram positive and gram negative bacteria presumably due to entrapment of LO within the self-assembled structures formed in them. Studies on efficacies of the ointments on full thickness mice wounds show that healing ability of LO is manifested only from F127 hydrogel in the form of faster epithelialization and neovascularization at the wound site. Such selective manifestation of wound healing efficacies of LO suggests that choice of ointment base is important for effective harnessing of its wound healing abilities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]