Zinc oxide and gum tragacanth based composite hydrogel heals partial thickness burn wound by attenuating...

In this study we have developed, characterized and examined the healing and regenerative potential of gum tragacanth based zinc oxide composite hydrogel (ZnO-GT). ZnO-GT composite is a pliable and soft formulation offering efficient, faster and improved burn wound healing/managements. In this procedure, we generated partial thickness burn wounds in murine model and then applied the wound with ZnO-GT formulation. ZnO-GT showed promising burn wound healing potential in vivo as only 0.48 % of burn residual area was observed in ZnO-GT treatment group compared to11.41 % in positive control group (silver sulfadiazine treatment) and 41.62 % in control group (saline treatment) at the end of 14th day. Two weeks of comparative histopathological study and analysis revealed dermal regeneration along with formation of skin appendages in hydrogel treated groups (p < 0.05). ZnO-GT accelerates inflammatory stage progression and reduces inflammatory responses of wound healing. Further it increases production of fibroblast growth factor and angiogenesis promoting factors such as NOX 4, VEGFR 2, HIF-1α and ANG1 which leads to the formation and differentiation of skin appendages as demonstrated by Western blotting studies. Altogether, ZnO-GT showed good biocompatibility along with substantial wound healing efficacy and regenerative property making it potent therapeutic agent for healing of burn skin wounds.