The effect of natural extracts on laser burn wound healing

Despite the achievements in modern medicine, there is no effective natural treatment of second-degree burns till now. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the wound-healing efficiency of three extracted oils, from the prickly pear, pumpkin and linseed on partial-thickness burns induced by fractional CO2 laser (an innovative up-to-date technique) in rats.

Thirty rats completing partial-thickness burns by fractional CO2 laser were randomly divided into five groups. The burns were measured, photographed, and topically treated daily with saline solution, "CYTOL BASIC," pumpkin-, linseed-, and prickly pear-extracted oils (0.52 μL/mm(2) of oil) until day 7. The response to treatments was assessed by macroscopic, histologic, and biochemical parameters.

Due to their chemical composition, the extracted oils showed significant improvements over the control and reference groups during the trial for both general wound appearance and crusting. On day 7, the prickly pear, linseed, and pumpkin oils showed a significant decrease in the healing time (0 cm(2), 0.15 cm(2), and 0.18 cm(2), respectively) when compared to the control and reference groups (1.49 cm(2) and 0.85 cm(2)). Histologic assessment of the prickly pear oil-treated group revealed good healing proprieties compared with the other groups. The collagen content in prickly pear oil-treated group was found to be significantly greater (270.67 ± 7.48) than that in all other groups.

Our experiment has shown, for the first time, a scientific evidence of the efficiency of extracted oils of prickly pear, pumpkin, and linseed on partial-thickness burns.