Healing Effects of Iranian Dwarf Elder on Full-thickness Epidermal Thermal Injury in Wistar Rats

Background: Wound healing is a physiologic process that cells and tissues react when the skin is exposed to thermal injury. The inflammatory process has essential effects on wound healing that includes coordination between immunological and biological responses. Chemical and herbal medicines are locally or systemically administrated to help wound healing. Herbal medicines have become more prevalent in recent years due to fewer side effects. Dwarf elder is used to treating inflammation and has been reported to possess antibacterial and antioxidant activities. This plant is also effective against burns, wounds, eczema, and infection. Objectives: In this study, we evaluated the topical application of dwarf elder on full-thickness epidermal thermal wounds in Wistar rats. Methods: Thirty adult male Wistar rats of about 300 g were used. The rats were randomly divided into three groups: Control group, vehicle group treated with an ointment base, and treatment group treated with elder ointment 10%. The animals were anesthetized and were created burn wounds with an area of 1 cm2 using the Meyer method. After 21 days, the wounds were photographed with a Canon camera. The wound area and healing degree were calculated. Slides were stained with H&E and examined by light microscopy and GraphPad Prism software. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using ANOVA and Tukey’s test. The significance level was considered at P < 0.05. Results: The wound area on the 21st day was significantly lower in the treatment group than in the control and vehicle groups. The epithelium thickness (m)was significantly higher in the treatment group than in the control and vehicle groups. The blood vessels were significantly higher in the treatment group than in the other groups. Conclusions: The study showed that elder extract could be an effective remedy to repair and heal thermal injury and burn wounds.