Effect of Zaoxiu ointment on wound-healing in experimental second degree burns rats

Purpose: To evaluate the healing efficacy of a Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) preparation Zaoxiu Burn Ointment (ZBO) on experimental burns in rats. Methods: The rats were randomly divided into four groups of eight rats each: control group, silver sulfadiazine (SSD)-treated group, moist exposed burn ointment (MEBO)-treated group and ZBO-treated group. ZBO, SSD and MEBO were applied topically twice daily for 7 days. SSD and MEBO were used as reference control. The observation of wound area contraction and histological analysis of wound tissues were performed. The effect of ZBO on MMPs, VEGF and Type-III collagen proteins of wound tissue in rats were determined by Western blot. Results: After 10 days of topical treatment with ZBO, ZBO-treated group showed faster reduction in wound area in comparison with control groups (p < 0.01). MMP-2, MMP-9, VEGF and type-III collagen expression of the wound tissue increased significantly (p < 0.05) in comparison with the control burn wounds in rats. The ZBO had no cytotoxic effect on BHK-21 cell line. Histological results showed an overall early recovery and regeneration in ZBO-treated group when compared with control group. Conclusion: ZBO possesses significant wound-healing activity in full-thickness burn wounds in rats, and can potentially be developed for the treatment of burns patient in future.