In Vivo Wound Healing Study of Chitosan Turmeric Films in Rat Model

Hydrogel based wound dressings are flexible, permeable to oxygen and conformable with more comfort over traditional dressings.In the present study bioactive wound dressing material composed of chitosan with turmeric extracts, in the form of film was prepared.Physical and mechanical properties of the films, enhancing rate of wound healing were examined.The elongation percent for chitosan film + methanol turmeric extract, chitosan film + turmeric oil and chitosan film (control) was found to be 80.05%, 73.22% and 43.97%, respectively.Chitosan films with turmeric extracts showed good elongation.Water absorption capacity for chitosan-methanol turmeric, chitosanturmeric oil and chitosan film was found to be 0.757g/g, 0.515g/g and 0.410g/g, respectively.Water vapor permeability of the films was also calculated.Permeability for chitosan-methanol turmeric, chitosan-turmeric oil and chitosan film was found to be 1.463g/cm 2 , 1.593g/cm 2 and 1.31g/cm 2 , respectively.Wound healing efficacy was evaluated for chitosan-methanol turmeric, chitosan-turmeric oil and chitosan films using rat model.Wounds treated with chitosan-methanol turmeric film were healed in 15 days with complete epithelization.Period of epithelization for chitosan-turmeric oil film treated wound was 18 days.Control film treated and untreated wounds healed in 21 days.Percent wound contraction decreased rapidly for chitosan-methanol turmeric film treated group compared to untreated group.Wound healing promoting features of chitosan and curcumin in turmeric made chitosan-based films a potential wound dressing material.