Crude ginger has been used to treat wounds since ancient times till nowadays. The present study aimed at designing and characterizing topical hydrogel films loaded with ginger extract for wound healing in animal model. The hydrogel films were prepared using PVA and gelatin. The prepared films were evaluated for FTIR analysis, surface morphology, pH, swelling behavior, in vitro release, and % drug content. The wound-healing activity of the extract-loaded hydrogel films was compared with commercially available Silver Sulfadiazine® cream. The drug was compatible with the selected polymers and indicated the suitability of the selected polymers for preparation of topical hydrogel films. The SEM images clearly indicated porous structure of the prepared hydrogel films. Slight changes were observed in pH, ranging from 4.98 ± 0.079 in the beginning of the study to 4.9 ± 0.58 in the end. The swelling percentage after 8 h was 257.7%. The films released 78.7 ± 1.7% of the drug in 250 min. The percent drug content was 97.78 ± 5% which did not change significantly during the storage period. The hydrogel films showed similar wound-healing activity as compared to the commercial product (p > 0.05; ANOVA), while greater wound-healing activity as compared to the control group (p < 0.05; ANOVA) evidenced by intensive collagen formation in histopathological analysis.
Keywords: PVA; burn wounds; gelatin; ginger; hydrogels.