Background:

The wounded tissue may be repaired throughout three phases: inflammatory, proliferative and remodeling. Prosopis Juliflora (PJ) plant extract is used to speed up cutaneous wounds healing and improve its quality.

Aim of the work: To evaluate the PJ wound healing potentiality versus sulphadiazine after topical application on experimentally induced cutaneous wounds.

Materials and methods: After wound excision, rats were randomly allocated in three groups; positive control, SUL-treated and PJ-treated. The wound was covered with sulphadiazine and PJ leaf extract twice daily, for 21 days post injury (DPI). On the 12th and 21st DPI, full thickness skin specimens and wet granulation tissues were taken for hematoxylin and eosin, Masson's trichrome and TGF-β immunohistochemical staining and antioxidants assay.

Results: Direct observations of the excised wounds on the 21st DPI showed complete wound healing and re-epithelization in SUL-treated and PJ-treated. However, the wound is still opened in positive control. On the 12th and 21st DPI, the mean wound diameter and surface area were significantly decreased in addition to significant increases in wound contraction percentage in both SUL-treated and PJ-treated groups. The mean values of antioxidants enzymes significantly increased however the malondialdehyde (MDA) levels were significantly decreased in treated groups.

Conclusion:

The topical application of PJ leave extract possesses significant positive roles in enhancing the process of skin wound healing, when compared to topical sulphadiazine. These positive impacts are attributed to alleviation of inflammation, attenuating oxidative stress, upgrading angiogenesis, collagen synthesis and TGF- β expression.