COMPARATIVE EVALUATION OF ZINC OXIDE NANOPARTICLE OINTMENT AND COMMERCIAL ZINC OXIDE OINTMENT FOR WOUND HEALING IN RABBITS (ORYCTOLAGUS CUNICULUS)

Abstract

As the human body's largest organ the skin protects internal areas from both physical harm and outside threats including virus rays and toxic substances. The body uses this organ to maintain balance and protect against invaders. Injury to the skin's barrier breaks down its protective defenses which puts the body at risk of life-endangering infections and high physiological pressures. The wound healing process consists of four stages that work together in a dynamic sequence: hemostasis begins first while inflammation follows next and leads directly into proliferation as tissue forms. Finally, the remodeling stage helps close and regenerate damaged tissues. The skin naturally heals itself but different environmental and internal influences make this recovery challenging. The wounds from Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus secondary infections lead to delayed healing with damaged tissue and poor recovery. Medical practitioners use different skin treatments to improve the speed of wound recovery. Zinc oxide (ZnO) serves as a well-used antiseptic because it reduces inflammation and kills harmful bacteria when applied to the skin. ZnO creates skin protection and assists the regrowth of skin tissue as it fights gram-positive and gram-negative bacterial growth. Nanotechnology enables zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO-NPs) to effectively address cutaneous burns through increased surface area-to-volume ratio and better product penetration since the particles disrupt bacterial membranes and generate more reactive oxygen species at a nanoscale level. Our research tested whether ZnO-NPs ointment works better than regular ZnO ointment at aiding wound recovery in chemically burned second-degree skin wounds of rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus). The researchers assigned eighteen adult rabbits to three groups known as A, B, and C for scientific analysis. The research tested three groups with patients who received ZnO-NP ointment in Group A, received commercially available ZnO ointment in Group B while Group C received normal saline as a control. Scientists created identical injuries on three areas of each rabbit through an organized experiment. The healing progress was evaluated through different methods that included outside appearance studies combined with measurements of wound size reduction rates and tissue regeneration times. We measured the effects of each treatment method to establish which method provides the best way to heal burn wounds.