Assessment of antibacterial activity of Syzygium aromaticum extracts, antibiotics and silver sulphadiazine ointment against pathogenic bacteria isolated from the burned and unburned skin

Aims@#Skin burns remain a noteworthy general medical issue throughout the world, as it boosts a condition of immuno-suppression. The present research aimed to evaluate the efficacy of Syzygium aromaticum extracts, silver sulphadiazine ointment, and different commercially available topical antibiotics against pathogenic bacteria, isolated from the skin of burn patients.@*Methodology and results@#A total of 124 clinical pus samples were collected from the skin of burn patients, admitted to two different tertiary care burn units at Peshawar, Pakistan. From these pus samples, 6 bacterial isolates from burned skin (Staphylococcus epidermidis, Streptococcus, Klebsiella, Enterobacter, Bacillus and Pseudomonas spp.) were isolated, while 4 different bacterial isolates (Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus aureus, Bacillus and Streptococcus spp.) were isolated from unburned skin via conventional culturing techniques. Further, antibacterial assays were performed to compare the efficacy of S. aromaticum extracts (methanolic and aqueous extract), silver sulphadiazine ointment, and different commercially available antibiotics against tested bacteria. It was observed that both methanolic and aqueous extracts of S. aromaticum were effective at all concentrations against all the tested bacteria. In addition, all the tested antibiotics expressed substantial activity against most of the bacterial isolates. While silver sulphadiazine ointment was observed to be less potent against isolated bacteria as compared to S. aromaticum extracts. @*Conclusion, significance and impact of study@#It was concluded that both aqueous and methanolic extracts of S. aromaticum were effective antimicrobial agents and could be used as an alternative to control bacterial infections of burn patients. This study would help to distinguish the risk factors of bacterial pathogenicity in burn patients and would also provide a guideline to utilize medicinal plants and their extracts to minimize the chances of antibiotic resistance phenomenon in burn patients.

Effect of topical phenytoin on burn wound healing in rats.

To evaluate the effect of phenytoin on burn wounds and to compare the effect of the combination of topical phenytoin preparation in dexamethasone treated burn wounds in rats, partial thickness thermal burn wounds were inflicted upon five groups of six rats each. Group I was assigned as control, Group II received the standard silver sulphadiazine, Group III was given topical phenytoin and Group IV received injection dexamethasone, Group V received the combination of the phenytoin and the dexamethasone. The parameters observed were epithelialization period, percentage of wound contraction and histopathological analysis as indicative of the process of healing. Phenytoin group showed significant improvement in burn wound contraction in comparison to standard silver sulphadiazine group, the combination group of topical phenytoin and dexamethasone also showed significant contraction compared to dexamethasone group. The period of epithelialization also decreased significantly in groups II, III and V. In conclusion, phenytoin promotes burn wound healing as evidenced by decrease in period of epithelialization and faster wound contraction.