Evaluation of a Mucin-Honey formulation for Healing in Full Thickness Experimental Wounds in Rats

In this work, the various topical formulations of mucin, honey and their admixtures (mucinated-honey) (MH) were investigated in wound treatment. Their wound healing effects, tissue re-epithelialization and efficacy in wounds were compared to those of silver sulphadiazine cream (SSD) which was employed as the standard. Gels were used and various quantities of mucin and honey were incorporated to give the required formulations. Histological examination coupled with visual scoring allowed the assessment of changes to the wounded area. MH showed enhanced wound healing when compared with mucin alone, honey alone or SSD. The combination resulted in up to 89% wound healing on day 15 compared to 74 % for honey and 80% for mucin alone. The wounds that were treated with gel preparations of MH had the fastest resolution of the inflammatory, proliferative and maturation phases of wound healing. The wounds showed early resolution of oedema, fever, minimal scar, early establishment of angiogenesis, fibroblast cells and high density keratinocytes than mucin, honey or SSD formulations. Organoleptically, the MH formulations had better stability characteristics when stored under use conditions for 12 months. MH accelerated wound healing in rats when compared with mucin, honey and SSD. This may be attributed to the synergy in mucin-honey admixture when applied to full thickness experimental wounds in rats. The relevance of MH in wound healing has been established in this study.