Efficacy of Iranian Hydrogel onWound Healing in Rat as an Animal Model

Background: Hydrogels are one of the commonly used dressings for chronic ulcers. Nowadays, much therapeutics can be delivered to the wound or circulation by the gels. This study was conducted to evaluate the efficacy of Iranian hydrogel in wound healing in rat as an animal model. Methods: Thirty four Wistar male rats were anaesthetized and a full thickness circular skin wound was created by excising the dorsum of the rats. The animals were divided into two groups. In the experimental Ir gel group, the wounds were dressed by hydrogel and in the control NS group by conventional moist normal saline gauze. The wound areas were measured on days 1, 3, 7 and 12 for comparing the wound healing rate in the two groups. Laboratory investigation, skin tensile strength and histopathology of the healed tissues were also considered for evaluation. Results: Mean percentages of wound contraction on the 3rd, 7th and 12th days were not significantly different between the two groups. The differences in skin tensile strength, in the two groups, on days 15 and 30 were not significant. Histopathologically, wound repair was excellent in 6 (60%), good in 3 (30%) and poor in 1 (10%) of specimens in control NS group while these figures were 6 (60%), 4 (40%) and 0 (0%) in the Ir gel group respectively and the difference was not statistically significant. Conclusion: The effect of Iranian hydrogel effect on wound healing in rats was identical to moist gauzes. As Iranian hydrogel did not have any adverse effects and was easily removed from the wound, it can be safely used for dressing of wounds.