In Vivo Assessment of Healing Potential of Ointments Containing Bee Products, Vegetal Extracts, and Polymers on Skin Lesions.

Abstract

Background/Objectives: The present experiment aimed to formulate four ointments that included mixtures of plant extracts (Hippophae rhamnoides, Calendula officinalis, Arctium lappa, and Achillea millefolium), apitherapy products (honey, propolis, and apilarnil) and natural polymers (collagen, chitosan, and the lyophilisate of egg white) in an ointment base. Methods: In order to investigate the therapeutic properties of the ointments, experimental in vivo injury models (linear incision, circular excision, and thermal burns) were performed on laboratory animals, namely Wistar rats. The treatment was applied topically, once a day, for 21 days. Clinical and macroscopic evaluation, determination of lesion shrinkage rate, re-epithelialization period, and histopathological examination were performed. Results: The results demonstrate that the tested ointments have a significant effect in healing skin lesions. On the ninth day of treatment, the wound contraction rate was 98.17 ± 0.15% for the mixed ointment group, compared to the negative control group's rate of 14.85 ± 2.95%. At day 21, dermal collagenization and restoration of histological structure occurred for all treated groups. Conclusions: The tested ointments exerted in vivo wound healing and re-epithelialization effects on incision, excision, and thermal burn injuries.