Wound healing in immunocompromised dogs: A comparison between the healing effects of moist exposed burn ointment and honey

Musa Alshehabat; Wael Hananeh; Zuhair Bani Ismail; Safwan Abu Rmilah; Mahmoud Abu Abeeleh

doi:10.14202/vetworld.2020.2793-2797

Wound healing in immunocompromised dogs: A comparison between the healing effects of moist exposed burn ointment and honey

Vet World. 2020 Dec;13(12):2793-2797. doi: 10.14202/vetworld.2020.2793-2797. Epub 2020 Dec 29.

Authors

Musa Alshehabat¹, Wael Hananeh², Zuhair Bani Ismail¹, Safwan Abu Rmilah¹, Mahmoud Abu Abeeleh³

Affiliations

¹ Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid 22110, Jordan.
² Department of Pathology and Public Health, Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid 22110, Jordan.
³ Department of Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Jordan, Amman, 11942 Jordan.

Abstract

Background and aim: Natural topical products have been used to enhance wound healing, especially in immunocompromised animals. The aims of this study were to evaluate and to compare the effects of moist exposed burn ointment (MEBO) and honey on the healing of full-thickness skin wounds in immunocompromised dogs.

Materials and methods: The study was conducted using 12 adults, apparently healthy mongrel dogs. Immunosuppression was induced in six dogs by oral administration of prednisone (2 mg/kg) and azathioprine (2 mg/kg), once a day for 21 days. On each dog, a total of 9, 1.5 cm in diameter full-thickness skin circular wounds were created aseptically in the thoracolumbar area under general anesthesia using customized skin punch biopsy kit. In a random fashion, three wounds in each dog were treatment using MEBO (contains b-sitosterol, baicalin, and berberine as active ingredients in a base of beeswax and sesame oil), honey or no treatment (control), once per day for 21 days. Wounds were grossly evaluated once a day for signs of inflammation or infection. In addition, biopsy specimens and digital imaging data of each wound were obtained on days 7, 14, and 21 for histopathological evaluation of the healing process.

Results: Wounds in immunocompromised dogs appeared to heal significantly in a slower fashion than in non-immunocompromised counterparts. Digital analysis data showed that MEBO-treated wounds expressed better epithelialization area, faster contraction, and smaller wound area percentage when compared with honey-treated wounds. Histopathological analysis showed significantly higher angiogenesis scores in MEBO-treated wounds when compared with other treatments.

Conclusion: Results of this study showed that MEBO resulted in significant enhancement of wound healing in both healthy and immunocompromised dogs. However, when compared to honey, the wound healing effect of MEBO was superior to that of honey.

Keywords: epithelialization; open wound healing; wound contraction; wound dressings.