A comparative study of the wound healing properties of honey and Ageratum conyzoides

The present study investigates the wound healing properties of methanolic extracts of Ageratum conyzoides leaves compared with those of honey. Thirty Wistar rats were randomized into 3 groups of 10 animals each. They were fed with standard rat cubes and Tap water weighed and acclimatized to laboratory conditions for one week. Under anesthesia, each animal had the skin of its dorsolateral flank shaved after which an area of the skin was excised. On achieving haemostasis, the wounds were packed with gauze soaked in the appropriate dressing for each group. Measurement of wound size, and wound biopsies were taken on the 10th day post-wound creation. Together with healed wound samples, these were processed for histology. Fibroblast and blood vessel densities per unit area of wound were determined for the healed wound samples. Histologically, the day 10 Ageratum sections showed fewer inflammatory cells compared with similar honey and Control sections. Also, healed scar sections of wounds dressed with the herb extract showed more fibrosis. Honey and Ageratum caused significant greater wound contraction than controls (p = 0.001 and 0.005 respectively). Healed wounds from the Ageratum group had significantly fewer fibroblasts than honey and controls (p = 0.012 and 0.036 respectively).