Effect of Punicalagin Nanofibrous-Dressing on Tissue Total Antioxidant Capacity Index Through Wound Healing in Adult Wistar Rats

Wound herbal therapy is common in traditional medicine and many studies have illustrated pomegranate’s wound healing properties, yet its pure constituents were not studied extensively. Since the use of electrospinning as a wound dressing is on the rise, this study aimed at evaluating the effect of punicalagin nanofibrous wound dressing on anti-oxidant capacity index through wound healing in rats. Punicalagin with nanofibers of polyvinyl alcohol was produced by electrospinning and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and proved its integrity. A 900 mm2 (3 cm × 3 cm) full-thickness rectangular wound in dorsal inter-scapular skin was incised through aseptic operations in two groups of 10 rats each. In the first group, rats were treated with nanofiber punicalagin dressing for seven consecutive days, and in the second group, rats received nanofiber dressing without punicalagin, as the control. Then, half of them were euthanized on day seven and the rest at day 20 to collect topical cutaneous samples for measuring total antioxidant capacity (TAC) index by using commercial kits. The data were analyzed with SPSS statistics software by comparing total antioxidant capacity between these two groups. Samples from treated rats showed significant increases in tissue extract total antioxidant capacity in the inflammatory stage of wound healing on day seven compared to the control group. The results suggest that treatment with punicalagin nanofibers may lead to help anti-inflammatory effects due to the increase in anti-oxidant activity in the tissue. Based on this augmentation, the formulated nanofibers containing pomegranate peel component might be useful as skin repair dressing without hazard to human or animal health.