The activity of pomegranate extract standardized 40% ellagic acid during the healing process of incision wounds in albino rats (Rattus norvegicus)

AIM: This research aimed to evaluate the effects of pomegranate extract standardized to 40% ellagic acid on the incised wound in albino rats. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Fifty albino rats were divided into 10 treatment groups. The five groups were sacrificed on the 8(th) day, while the others were sacrificed on the 15(th) day. Two groups of albino rats with incised wound were not treated at all (P0), the other two groups of albino rats with incised wound were treated with Betadine(®) (P1) ointment, and the rest of the groups were treated with pomegranate extract standardized to 40% ellagic acid with a concentration of 2.5% (P2), 5% (P3), and 7.5% (P4). The treatments were carried out twice a day with an interval of 12 h for 7 and 14 days. At the end of the research, the skin tissue of those albino rats had been taken for histopathologic preparations before H and E staining was performed. RESULTS: Collagen deposition, polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) infiltration, angiogenesis, and fibrosis degree in Group P4 treated with 7.5% pomegranate extract standardized to 40% ellagic acid for 14 days were significantly different from those in Groups P0, P1, P2, and P3, especially in the case of PMN inflammation (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The administration of 7.5% pomegranate extract standardized to 40% ellagic acid for 14 days on incised wounds of those albino rats can accelerate the wound healing process characterized by collagen deposition improvement, PMN infiltration in the wound area, angiogenesis, and fibrosis degree.