Effect of propolis on wound healing in albino rats

Propolis is a resinous, sticky substance that bees collect from conifer buds and use to repair cracks in their hives. Propolis was used in folk medicine as early as 300 BC as an anti-inflammatory drug and wound healing agent. We studied the effect of Propolis on wound healing in albino rats. Twenty male albino rats had a linear 3 cm incision made over skin of back. The animals were randomly divided into two experimental groups, as control and treatment. Animals of the control group received topical cold cream once a day from beginning of experiments to complete wound closure. Animals of the treatment group were treated topically by Propolis cream at the same time. For computing the percent of wound healing, the area of wound was measured at the beginning of experiments and 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and 16 days after that. There was no statistically significant difference between treatment and control animals in most of days. In spite of some beneficial effects of Propolis, it had no effect on the rate of wound closing in an incisional wound model in rats.