title: The effect of natural extracts on laser burn wound healing.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Despite the achievements in modern medicine, there is no effective natural treatment of second-degree burns till now. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to assess the wound-healing efficiency of three extracted oils, from the prickly pear, pumpkin and linseed on partial-thickness burns induced by fractional CO2 laser (an innovative up-to-date technique) in rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Thirty rats completing partial-thickness burns by fractional CO2 laser were randomly divided into five groups. The burns were measured, photographed, and topically treated daily with saline solution, "CYTOL BASIC," pumpkin-, linseed-, and prickly pear-extracted oils (0.52 μL/mm(2) of oil) until day 7. The response to treatments was assessed by macroscopic, histologic, and biochemical parameters.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Due to their chemical composition, the extracted oils showed significant improvements over the control and reference groups during the trial for both general wound appearance and crusting. On day 7, the prickly pear, linseed, and pumpkin oils showed a significant decrease in the healing time (0 cm(2), 0.15 cm(2), and 0.18 cm(2), respectively) when compared to the control and reference groups (1.49 cm(2) and 0.85 cm(2)). Histologic assessment of the prickly pear oil-treated group revealed good healing proprieties compared with the other groups. The collagen content in prickly pear oil-treated group was found to be significantly greater (270.67 ± 7.48) than that in all other groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our experiment has shown, for the first time, a scientific evidence of the efficiency of extracted oils of prickly pear, pumpkin, and linseed on partial-thickness burns.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Sana
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bardaa
authors.affiliation: Private Center of Plastic Surgery, Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Naourez
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Chabchoub
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Enzyme Engineering and Microbiology, National Engineering School of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Mourad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Jridi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Dorsaf
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Moalla
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, CHU Hedi Chaker Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Madiha
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mseddi
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Histology, Embryology, and Reproductive Biology, Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia.
authors.forename: Tarek
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Rebai
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine of Sfax, University of Sfax, Tunisia. Electronic address: Zouheir.sahnoun.fms@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Zouheir
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Sahnoun
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D002056:Burns / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism; D028464:Cucurbita; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D019597:Flax; D054020:Lasers, Gas / Q000009:adverse effects; D019684:Magnoliopsida; D008297:Male; D029747:Opuntia; D008517:Phytotherapy; D010938:Plant Oils / Q000494:pharmacology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011897:Random Allocation; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012867:Skin / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D010938:Plant Oils; D003094:Collagen
keywords: Healing effect; Laser burns; Linseed; Oil; Prickly pear; Pumpkin