Supporting a therapy of non-healing wounds with witch hazel bark

The project aims to find a justification for the traditional use of witch hazel bark as a topical agent used in skin
infections, inflammation, and skin regeneration. Wound healing is negatively affected by lifestyle diseases of metabolic
or cardiovascular background, socioeconomic factors, and availability of therapy. As it continues to pose an increasing
economic burden and significantly affects the quality of life among the patients afflicted, new and diverse therapeutic
interventions aimed at facilitating skin regeneration and antimicrobial treatment should be considered. For years
phytotherapy was the main available treatment for dermatological conditions. However, the application of herbal
remedies has been based largely on historical or anecdotal evidence. More credible data obtained in comprehensive
research, as well as approaching both the efficacy and safety of traditionally used remedies is required. The evidencebased
reintroduction of previously used herbal remedies, which antibiotics had replaced, may be a promising strategy.
Evidence linking chemically identified compounds with activity in specific indications would be a foundation for
sufficient standardization and quality control of plant-based products. Moreover, in recent years there has been an
expansion in the research, which progressively incorporates the influence of xenobiotics on the microbiome or the
microbiome on the xenobiotics. Rediscovery of the importance of microbiota will furtherly result in deepening
comprehension of the complex interplay between disease-related processes, characteristics of microbial communities
and the use of xenobiotics. Addressing these issues in the pre-clinical phases of research on medicinal plant materials
would be the first step for effective quality control, design of reliable clinical research with reproducible results, as well
as recognizing the relevance of phytotherapy by evidence-based medicine.