Evaluation and comparison of antimicrobial efficacy of snail mucus of Egyptian Eremina desertorum and Helix aspersa with novel approach of their anti-inflammatory and wound healing potencies
Abstract Snail mucus is composed of bioactive compounds thought to have different biological properties for the treatment of some skin problems. Although Helix aspersa mucus is used in several cosmetic products, a detailed characterization of Eremina desertorum mucus composition and its biological activities is still missing. Mucus extracts (MEs) from H. aspersa and E. desertorum were prepared and tested for their antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory activities with their potencies in wound healing. Also, chemical characterization is done by GC-MS analysis. Results showed that ME of E. desertorum gave higher inhibitory activity against resistant strains related to burn wound infections compared to ME of H. aspersa. Also, it revealed a significant anti-inflammatory activity. Moreover, we found that ME of E. desertorum lacked cytotoxicity and was able to significantly induce cell proliferation and migration through up-regulation expression of TGFβ1 and VEGF genes. Our results suggested that MEs of E. desertorum have higher biological effects compared to H. aspersa, which are attributable to antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory activities, cell proliferation and pave the way for further investigating its potential effect as a human therapeutic agent.