Histopathological Evaluation of the Application of Zinc Nanoparticles in Conjunction With Chitosan Dressing on the Wound Healing of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Infected Skin Wounds in Rats

Abstract

Objectives: Wound healing and tissue regeneration have raised serious challenges for healthcare systems worldwide, affecting both aesthetic and health-related aspects of the community well-being. Wound healing is a complex sequence of physical, cellular, and molecular events involving cell recruitment, proliferation, as well as the synthesis and accumulation of the new extracellular matrix components. The present study aimed to histopathologically evaluate the application of zinc nanoparticles in conjunction with chitosan dressing for the wound healing of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infected skin wounds in rats. Materials and Methods: In this experimental investigation, 28 healthy male rats were randomly divided into 4 groups, each of which including 7 rats. The wound healing process was evaluated based on histopathological studies and biochemical findings on days 7, 14, and 21. Results: According to the results from the two-way ANOVA analysis, the means of wound area in the study groups were statistically and significantly different on all evaluated days (P<0.001). The highest wound area was associated with group III (i.e., wound with zinc oxide) on days 6, 18, 15, 12, and 9, while the lowest wound area was observed in group IV (i.e., wound with chitosan-nanoparticles-zinc oxide). A statistically significant difference was also found among the study groups in terms of the mean values of hydroxyproline (P<0.001). According to the post hoc Tukey test for pairwise comparisons, a significant difference was observed among all groups regarding the hydroxyproline values (P<0.001). Additionally, the highest collagen density was detected in the chitosan-nanoparticles-zinc oxide group. Conclusions: The application of biodegradable chitosan-nanoparticles-zinc oxide dressing significantly improved the histopathological and biochemical indices of the full-thickness skin wound healing. This study highlighted the effectiveness of chitosan-nanoparticles-zinc oxide dressing in wound healing enhancement, indicating its potential application in wound healing.