Formulation film based on zinc acetate/cellulose with anti-inflammatory, angiogenesis, and remodeling abilities for enhancing burn healing

Burns are most challenging to treat as they result in skin impairment or even death. This study elucidated the therapeutic benefits of Zinc/cellulose films on thermal burn injuries in rats at two distinct time points [eight and sixteen days after the injury]. A novel formulation film based on Zinc acetate and cellulose for enhancing burn healing has been prepared. Hydroxyl ethyl cellulose (HEC) and Polyvinyl alcohol have mixed to form homogenous solution then zinc acetate with different ratios has been added. The prepared film has been investigated by different analysis FTIR, XRD and SEM then applied on burn rat model using Silvazine cream as a reference drug. Our findings illustrated that treatments under investigation after 8 and 16 days enhanced wound contraction rate and improved pathological alteration triggered by burn induction. C-Zn1.5 film declined IL-1β [8 day 30.03 ± 0.24, p<0.001; 16 day 18.43 ± 0.31, p<0.001] and TNF-α [8 day 68.14 ± 0.54, p<0.001; 16 day 39.35 ± 0.55, p<0.001] levels, and increased collagen1 [8 day 3.92 ± .08, p<0.001; 16 day 6.06 ± .15, p<0.001] and Bcl2 [8 day 277.7 ± 1.26, p<0.001; 16 day 396.27 ± 2.07, p<0.001] concentrations at 8 and 16 days in burn tissues. Additionally, the C-Zn1.5 film downregulated the expression levels of VEGF (~90%), TGF-β (~91%), MMP2 (~85%), and TIMP2 (~88%) genes at day 8; however, they upregulated gene levels of VEGF (~340%), TGF-β (~313%), MMP2 (~413%), and TIMP2 (~259%) at day 16 in skin burnt tissues. Collectively, Zinc/cellulose 1.5 films was superior in promoting burn wound healing via mechanisms possibly associated with its anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, angiogenesis, and remodeling abilities.