Xanthones (XTs) are a group of active compounds. Because of the poor solubility of XTs, large amounts of solubilizers and surfactants are needed for the formulations of XTs. Wound healing is a complex process associated with hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling must occur in the correct order and amount of time for a wound to heal correctly. Therefore, wound management by using products containing some active compounds possessing anti-infective and anti-inflammatory activities, such as XTs, should increase the wound healing rate and reduce the risks of chronic wounds.

The objectives of this study were thus to optimize formulations of XTs-loaded nanoemulgel (XTs-NE-G), to determine the effect of sterilization on their physicochemical properties, and to investigate in vitro and in vivo wound healing activities of sterilized XTs-NE-Gs. The results suggested that the optimal formulation was the A5-F3, which was the XTs-NE-G containing 5% w/w sodium alginate and 3% w/w Pluronic F127. The sterilized A5-F3 exhibited stimulating activity towards releasing the growth factors from the skin fibroblast cells. Furthermore, the sterilized A5-F3 could accelerate the wound-healing process in the mice. The sterilized A5-F3 could thus be accepted as a potential product for investigating its wound-healing activities in further clinical studies.