Wound Healing and the Effect of ANNAS; a New Product of AnbarNesa

Abstract

Background: AnbarNesa smoke is used to treat skin ulcers and many inflammatory conditions in Iranian traditional medicine. Avicenna used it to treat vaginitis and uteritis and named it Anbar (smoke) Nesa (women). Objectives: The current study aimed at applying the smoke in modern medicine; since it was not soluble in water or in alcohol, it was solved in propylene glycol and the new product called ANNAS. Then the wound healing activity of ANNAS was examined on the incisional wounds created on the dorsum of male Wistar rats. Methods: By means of biopsy punch, two full-thickness incisions were made on different sides of the rats’ vertebral column and treated daily by one drop of ANNAS or propylene glycol randomly. The wounds were excised on days 14 and 21; then stained with anti-SMA antigen for myofibroblast cell detection. The myofibroblasts were counted at the surface and deep layers of the dermis as indicators of wound scar by optical microscopy. Results: The obtained results showed that the number of myofibroblasts was significantly lower in surfaces and deep layers of the dermis and, consequently, in the entire dermis of lesions treated with ANNAS compared to the ones treated with propylene glycol on days 14 (P < 0.002) and 21 (P < 0.0001). Conclusions: It seems that AnbarNesa decreases keloid formation and prevents scar creation. Besides, hair follicles, dermal appendages, and sebaceous glands were also observed on day 21 in lesions treated with ANNAS, which was a novel finding reported for the first time and could be a proof for the acceleration of wound healing by the invented drug, ANNAS.