A new alginate dressing with Aloe vera gel was developed and used to study its cutaneous healing effect in vivo by surgical wounds in Wistar rats. The aloe-alginate film was characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy, mechanical properties, scanning electron microscopy, hydration rate, and calcium release. The aloe-alginate film demonstrated desirable physical and mechanical characteristics for wound dressing application. The animals were divided in three groups (n = 20): gauze bandage, alginate film, and aloe-alginate film. The histological analysis on the 3rd, 7th, 14th, and 22nd days after the treatment showed that the aloe-alginate films modulated the inflammatory phase and decreased the quantity of macrophages when compared to the alginate film group and the control (gauze bandage). The evaluation of collagen fibers showed a decrease in type III and increase in type I fibers on group treated with aloe-alginate film suggesting an improvement in the progression of the healing process.
Keywords: Alginate; Aloe vera; dressing; film; healing.