Amplification of Wound Healing by Propolis and Honey Ointment in Healthy and Diabetic Rat Models; Histopathological and Morphometric Findings

Skin wound healing, especially in diabetic patients, has been a major medical challenge for decades. In the meantime, the use of traditional medicine has always been questioned. Propolis) resin and wax (is one of the most likely solutions to this problem. The present study aimed to establish an animal model for healing skin wounds and diabetic ulcers. To this aim, rats were randomly allocated into two healthy and diabetic groups (50 mg/kg streptozotocin resulted in diabetes with high BSL to 300 mg/dL), which were divided into four subgroups. The 7 mm full-thickness skin wounds were created on the abdomen region in 80 male Wistar rats using paunch. In the subgroups, the wounds were cleaned with normal 0.9% saline as the control subgroup and dressed with Eucerit, 1.5% honey+eucerit, and 3% propolis +1.5% honey+eucerit, once daily for 14 days in other subgroups, respectively. On days 1, 3, 5, and 7 after the intervention, wound and area contractions were calculated using digital photographs measurement. The histopathological and semi-quantitative studies were performed on days 7 and 14 after wounds creation. The microscopic findings demonstrated that the granulation tissue, fibroblasts, re-epithelization, and angiogenesis increased (P≤0.05) in the subgroups treated by propolis and honey combination in healthy and diabetic rats within 7 and 14 days post-injury. Also, less inflammation and a significant reduction in wound contraction were observed in the same subgroups on days 3, 5, and 7 compared to other subgroups (P≤0.05). The results indicated that significant healing quality and acceleration were affected by propolis and honey compared to other subgroups on days 3 and 5 (P≤0.05).