The healing effects of herbal preparations from Sambucus ebulus and Urtica dioica in full-thickness wound models

Objective: To investigate the healing effects of two herbal preparations.
Methods: For this purpose, 106 wistar rats were divided into 9 groups including a
control, eucerine, phenytoin, Urtica dioica (U. dioica) (2%), U. dioica (5%), Sambucus
ebulus (S. ebulus) (2%), S. ebulus (5%), combination (2%), and combination (5%)
groups. The control group remained untreated, the eucerin and phenytoin groups were
considered as the negative and positive controls respectively, and the remaining groups
received different concentrations of the ointments. Full thickness wounds were made. The
healing process of the wounds was investigated on day 7, 14 and 21 of the experiment.
Several factors including the number of fibroblasts, new vessel formation (angiogenesis),
thickness of the granulomatous tissues (GT), and the overlying epithelium were analyzed.
Results: Among the studied groups, all of the treatment groups were significantly
different from the control, eucerin, and phenytoin groups in a positive manner with regard
to all studied factors (P � 0.05). However, the best results were observed with the
S. ebulus (2%) and the combination 2% groups (P � 0.05).
Conclusions: Topical ointments prepared from the extracts of U. dioica and S. ebulus
and their combination possess strong wound healing properties. It is postulated that a
synergistic effect may exist between the two extracts since the combination 2% showed
better results than the sole extracts.