EFFECT OF THYMOQUINONE ON WOUND HEALING IN ALLOXAN-INDUCED DIABETIC RATS

  Objective: Nigella sativa and its active constituent thymoquinone (TQ) have been extensively documented for its pharmacological values, but its application in wound healing in particular in a diabetic wound healing model is less documented.Methods: In our study, alloxan-induced diabetic rats were used as a chronic delayed wound model and topical administration of TQ 10% w/v were used to assess the role and function of TQ in wound healing through wound contraction and histological analysis.Results: Although statistically insignificant, we found out that TQ accelerated wound healing in post-wounding day 3 (inflammatory phase), whereas aggressively decelerating wound healing in post-wounding day 7 (proliferation phase). In addition, our histological analyses of wound granulation tissues at post-wounding day 14 substantiate our claim by showing that TQ treatment had delayed wound healing progression of the diabetic rats.Conclusions: Our study shows that TQ accelerates wound healing during the inflammatory phase; however, decelerate rapidly during the proliferation phase. We speculate the acceleration of wound healing during the inflammatory phase was due to its well-documented antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and antimicrobial properties while its deceleration of wound healing during the proliferation phase was due to its well-documented antiangiogenic effect