Healing effect of <i>Sanguisorba officinalis</i> L extract on second-degree burns in rats

Purpose: To investigate the healing effect of Sanguisorba officinalis L. extract (SOLE) on seconddegree burns in rats.Methods: Male Sprague Dawley rats, weighing 200 – 220 g, were subjected to deep second-degree skin burns by electrical scald instrument. The animals were divided into three groups as follows: (1) second-degree burns model (control), (2) burns model treated with 1 % silver sulfadiazine (SSD), and (3) burns model treated with SOLE. On days 3, 7 and 14, following administration of drug/extract, the wound area and histopathological changes of rat epidermis were evaluated in all the groups. Minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of SOLE on Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli was also assessed separately.Results: On day 14, the mean wound area of SOLE treatment group (0.22 ± 0.05 cm2) was significantly smaller than that of control rats (2.67 ± 0.18 cm2, p < 0.01). Histological data indicate that inflammatory cells of burnt rats disappeared and were replaced by new granulation tissue by day 14 for the group treated with SOLE. The antibacterial results revealed that the MIC of SOLE for Staphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Escherichia coli was 3.5, 14.0 and 7.0 mg·mL-1, respectively.Conclusion: Sanguisorba officinalis L. appears to be an effective medicinal herb for the treatment of second-degree burns.Keywords: Sanguisorba officinalis, Burns, Healing, Antibacterial, Silver sulfadiazine