An in vitro study on the burn wound healing activity of cotton fabrics incorporated with phytosynthesized silver nanoparticles in male Wistar albino rats

In modern therapeutics, chemically synthesized drugs have been reported as causing adverse effects including allergies, rashes, itches, and swelling. For the past few decades, silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have widely been applied in medical domains due to their antimicrobial and wound healing properties. In the present study, different concentrations of phytosynthesized AgNPs-saturated cotton dress fabrics - in comparison to cotton fabrics treated with commercial ointment - were tested for 18 days to assess their ability to speed the healing of rats' burn wounds. No significant difference in body weight was observed during the course of treatment as compared to the normal rat group. The cotton fabrics observed under Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) confirmed the distribution of AgNPs in the cotton fibers. Energy-Dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) spectrum also authenticated the AgNPs' distribution. At the end of the experimental period, the wound healing efficacy of dressing containing commercial ointment (Burn Heal) was slightly lower than that of treatment containing 100 mu g/kg of body weight (kg b.w.) of AgNPs. Additionally, it was also observed that the wound contraction area was higher than that of the positive drug 100 mu g/kg b.w. treated group, which indicates comparatively better-quality activity of ointments with AgNPs with regards to their burn healing properties. The histological and SEM observations showed better fibril alignments in repaired skin when compared with the negative and positive control groups. Perhaps due to the tensile strength of the comparatively higher concentration of nanoparticles, Groups IV and V (which contained the most nanoparticles out of all the groups) showed much better healing properties than did the positive drug treated group VI. Altogether, increased-concentration AgNPs show increased recovery action in comparison to the positive drug treated group. This study provides additional insight into the incorporation of AgNPs in wound dressings for speedy recovery of burn wounds, for improved human welfare. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.