Wiraya Witoteerasan. An evaluation of wound healing process of carboxymethylchitosan and alginate compared with the mixture of carboxymethylchitosan and alginate in Wistar rats . Master's Degree(Anatomy). Mahidol University. : Mahidol University, 2007.
An evaluation of wound healing process of carboxymethylchitosan and alginate compared with the mixture of carboxymethylchitosan and alginate in Wistar rats
Abstract:
This study was to evaluate the wound healing process of carboxymethylchitosan
(CMC) and alginate compared with the mixture of carboxymethylchitosan and alginate
(blend). Deep, thick wounds were prepared on the dorsal body wall of 20 female
Wistar rats. Two mirror image deep wounds were prepared on the dorsal body wall of
each experimental animal. In group 1 of ten Wistar rats the left wound was dressed
with CMC and the right with the blend while in group 2 of another ten animals the left
wound was dressed with alginate and the right with the blend. Two animals of each
group were sacrificed on days 4, 6, 8, 10 and 12 after operation. After sacrifice the
wounds were observed and photographed by a digital camera and the wound areas
were calculated by using the image analysis program. Then the wound tissues were
removed for light microscopy to observe the degree of healing. Observation revealed
that all wound areas diminished progressively and had completely disappeared by day
12. Light microscopy showed that the epithelialization of the wounds dressed with
CMC was completed on day 8, with alginate on day 10, and the blend either on day 10
or day 12. The wounds dressed with CMC demonstrated greater collagen regeneration
and less inflammatory cell infiltration than those dressed with the other two materials.
Also, the blend-dressed wounds revealed some residues and foreign body giant cells
while the CMC-dressed wounds had some residues at the outer surface which were not
found in alginate-dressed wounds. In conclusion, the CMC dressing materials
promoted the healing process more efficiently than the alginate and the blend. These
findings should be taken into account when choosing dressings and deciding on
dressing application duration.