Medicinal Plants in Diabetic Wound Healing: Mechanistic Insights from In-Vitro Studies

Diabetic wound healing remains a major clinical challenge due to the combined effects of persistent hyperglycaemia, oxidative stress, chronic inflammation, impaired cell migration, and increased susceptibility to infection. Conventional wound-care strategies often provide incomplete outcomes, as they primarily address isolated aspects of this complex pathology. In recent years, medicinal plants have gained increasing attention as potential supportive agents in diabetic wound management owing to their multi-targeted biological activities. The present review critically examines mechanistic evidence from in-vitro studies to elucidate the role of medicinal plants in diabetic wound healing. Emphasis is placed on key pathological mechanisms, including oxidative stress imbalance, prolonged inflammatory responses, microbial burden, and dysfunction of fibroblast and keratinocyte migration. In-vitro findings indicate that plant-derived phytoconstituents, particularly phenolics and flavonoids, exhibit antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, inhibit wound-associated pathogens, and enhance cellular migration in scratch wound models. These activities collectively contribute to the modulation of processes essential for effective wound repair under diabetic conditions. The review also highlights commonly employed in-vitro models used to evaluate herbal wound-healing agents and discusses their strengths and limitations. Although in-vitro evidence cannot fully replicate the complexity of in-vivo wound healing, it provides valuable mechanistic insights and a rational basis for further investigation. Overall, this review underscores the potential of medicinal plants as multi-functional agents in diabetic wound healing and supports their continued exploration through standardised experimental and formulation-based research approaches.