Effect of zinc chloride on wound healing in rats / Mohammad Ammar Hakim Osman

This study investigated the effectiveness of zinc chloride on wound healing in rats. Partial thickness burn wound was induced on the dorsal region of rats. Three groups of rats (n=3/group) were randomly formed. The first group received no treatment at all and it acted as a control group. The second group was applied with 0.01 % zinc chloride solution and the third group was applied with 5% zinc chloride solution. Wound morphology, wound size, presence of irritation, color and smell of wound were evaluated. The wound that received no treatment healed faster than the treated groups. Wound treated with 5% zinc chloride showed severe irritation of the skin. More inflammatory cells were found in wound treated with 5% zinc chloride solution than the others. The extracellular matrices in untreated wound were arranged in a higher organization level and the wound bed was characterized by a higher level of re-epithelialization. Unlike traditional belief and previous medical findings, zinc chloride does not promote the process of wound healing.