ABSTRACT
Background: The present study was designed to evaluate the potential of a combination cream of aqueous extracts of leaves of Morus alba (MA) and Azadirachta indica (AI) in scalding type burn wound injury in rats. Methods: Plant material was successively extracted and aqueous extracts were selected. Three extract based cream formulations viz. 20% w/w (MA), 20% w/w (AI), and combination cream containing 10%+10% w/w (MA+AI) were prepared. Cream base and standard anti-burn cream containing silver sulfadiazine were also used for comparison. Scalding type burn was given by pouring water at 90°C on a shaved dorsal area of 20 mm2. Deep second-degree burn injury was produced which was evaluated for next 21 days for a percentage of wound contraction and period of epithelialization. On 21st day, animals were sacrificed and histopathological slides were prepared using hematoxylin-eosin staining. Burned tissue was also screened for levels of oxidative stress using thiobarbituric acid reactive substances (TBARS) and glutathione (GSH) estimation. Results: There was a significant increase in the percentage of wound contraction and significant decrease in period of epithelialization in MA, AI, and MA+AI combination cream treated group as compared with control group. However, most significant results were obtained with MA+AI combination cream. Histologically, MA+AI cream treatment resulted in almost complete re-epithelialization and restructuring of the wound tissue. There was a significant rise in TBARS and decrease in GSH levels in burn injury group which was reversed to a major extent by the application of combination cream. Conclusions: The results indicate toward the possible role of free radical scavenging potential of extracts in the Burn wound tissue healing.