| Summary: | Piper betle (PB) leaves have been traditionally used in many Asian countries for the
healing of wounds and other ailments. The aim of this study was to examine the
wound healing effect of PB on skin injury-inflicted Sprague-Dawley rats. Eighteen
male Sprague-Dawley rats were inflicted with wounds and then divided into three
groups consisting of a control (normal wound healing without dressing), saline
(wound healing aided by gauze soaked in saline) and PB (gauze impregnated
with PB paste) dressings. Wounds were created on the back of rats with 6-mm
sterilized punch biopsy needle. Wounds were examined on days 3, 5, 7, 9, 11
and 13 for dryness, exudation, and scar formation. Rats were sacrificed on day 14
and the granulation tissue formed on the wound was then excised for histological
examination using Hematoxylin and Eosin staining. The formation of granulation
tissue in rats treated with PB showed higher progress to wound closure with shorter
days (on day 3) compared to the control and saline group (on day 5). PB dressing
minimized the formation of scar tissue significantly (p<0.05) compared to the
control and saline groups. In conclusion, our results suggest that PB has good
wound healing effect with less scarring and perhaps it can be used to treat wound
complementary to the present method.
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