Print ISSN 2319-2003 | Online ISSN 2279-0780 doi: 10.5455/2319-2003.ijbcp20150225 IJBCP International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology www.ijbcp.com International Journal of Basic & Clinical Pharmacology | January-February 2015 | Vol 4 | Issue 1 Page 139 Research Article Evaluation of wound healing activity of topical phenytoin in an excision wound model in rats Sarita Mulkalwar*, Lopamudra Behera, Pravin Golande, Rahul Manjare, Harshal Patil INTRODUCTION Wound is defned as a disruption of cellular and anatomical or functional continuity of living tissue. 1 Wound healing is the process of restoration of physical integrity of internal or external body structures and involves a complex interaction between the cells and various other factors. The healing process consists of a sequence of overlapping events including inflammatory responses, regeneration of the epidermis, shrinkage of the wound and fnally connective tissue formation and remodelling. 2 Wound healing is a signifcant healthcare problem in today’s medical practice. Appropriate treatment and wound care accelerate the healing process and prevent infection and chronicity of the wound. 2 Oral phenytoin was introduced into therapy in 1938 and widely used for management of convulsions. On long- term administration of phenytoin, it produces gingival hypertrophy and by virtue of this property, studies on its effect on wound healing were undertaken. 3 According to few studies, phenytoin possesses wound healing activity, but there are few contradictory studies. In view of these conficting results, the present study was planned to evaluate the effect of topical phenytoin on the rate of wound healing in an excision wound model and compare with petroleum jelly and povidone iodine. METHODS The present study was carried out in Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Hospital and Research Centre, Pimpri, Pune, Maharashtra, after approval from Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC). Animals A total of 32, healthy (150-200 g) Sprague-Dawley rats of either sex, aged 12 weeks bred locally in the animal house of our college were used. The animals were kept in ABSTRACT Background: Wound healing is a signifcant healthcare problem in today’s medical practice. Despite extensive treatment modalities that are supposed to hasten the wound healing process, the outcomes of existing methods are far from optimal. One such agent that has been tried previously and found controversial in wound healing is phenytoin. Therefore, this study was planned to evaluate and compare wound healing effect of topical phenytoin with povidone iodine ointment in rats. Methods: This study was conducted after approval from Institutional Animal Ethics Committee (IAEC). Wound healing activity of topical phenytoin (1 g% and 2 g%) was assessed in excision wound model in Sprague Dawley rats (n=8), which was compared with topical petroleum jelly and povidone iodine ointment. Parameters studied included wound area on day 0, 4, 8, 12, 16, 20, percentage wound contraction, percentage wound healing from day 0 to day 20 and period of re-epithelisation. Results: Wound surface area decreased in all treatment groups from day 0 through day 20 and the percentage wound closure was better in both the preparations (1% and 2%) of phenytoin when compared wih control and povidone iodine, but this was not statistically signifcant. Furthermore, the days required for complete re-epithelisation were less with phenytoin treated groups. There was no statistical difference between both the preparations of phenytoin. Conclusion: In this study, it was found that topical phenytoin accelerates wound healing process in an excision wound model. Keywords: Epithelization, Phenytoin, Wound contraction Department of Pharmacology, Dr. D. Y. Patil Medical College, Pimpri, Pune, Maharashtra, India Received: 18 December 2014 Accepted: 09 January 2015 *Correspondence to: Dr. Sarita Mulkalwar, Email: smulkal@hotmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open- access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non- Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non- commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.