Therapeutic Effect of Zataria Multiflora Essential Oil on Burn Wound Infected by Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (P. aeruginosa) is one of the most important microorganisms causing burn wound infection. Due to the rapid increase in resistance to the currently used antimicrobial agents, finding new antibiotics is one of the research priorities. This study was designed to investigate antibacterial and wound healing effects of Zataria multiflora essential oil (ZMEO) on burn wounds infected with P. aeruginosa in Sprague-Dawley rats. Experimental burn wounds were created on the back of the animals and infected with P. aeruginosa. The animals were randomly divided into 4 groups of 7 to 10 as follow: negative control (no treatment), carrier gel group treated with carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) gel, ZMEO group that received CMC gel loaded with ZMEO, and positive control group that received silver sulfadiazine (SSD). All medications were applied topically once daily for 28 days. On the days 7th, 14th, 21st, and 28th after the start of treatments, the surfaces of the wounds were measured and some samples were collected for histopathological evaluations. The tensile strengths of ratsʼ skins were also measured on the 28th day. The results showed that on the 7th day, while a significant healing of the wounds was observed in the ZMEO group, the other groups did not show remarkable wound healing (P<0.05). Therefore, ZMEO showed an accelerating effect on the healing process of burn wounds and could be considered for further evaluations in order to develop new medications for the treatment of burn wounds infected with P. aeruginosa.