The regenerative properties of the extracted polysaccharide from Brittle star (Ophiocoma erinaceus) on cutaneous wound in male Wistar rat

In traditional medicine, extracts of polysaccharide-containing plants are widely employed for the treatment of cutaneus wounds. The brittle star, as one of marine organisms, encompasses bioactive compounds, which confer the healing potency of damaged arms. The aim of the present study is to investigate the effects of extracted polysaccharide from the Persian Gulf brittle star )Ophiocoma erinaceus( on male Wistar rat skin wound healing. In this experimental study, 60 male Wistar rats were divided randomly into 5 groups including control, positive control (treatment with honey), experimental 1 to 3 (treatment with 12.5, 25, 37.5 mg/kg body weight of extracted polysaccharide, respectively). In all groups, the wound was inflicted in the posterior part of the body of rats. Then, rats were treated locally. On the 3th, 7th, 10th and 14th days, samples were collected from the healing hole and histological changes were investigated by light microscopy. Then, quantitative data were analyzed by SPSS software, one-way ANOVA at the level of p<0.05. Microscopic results showed that, in treated wounds by 37.5 mg/kg of extracted polysaccharide, as well as positive control, the re-epithelialization, the angiogenesis and the attenuation of inflammatory cells were significantly improved in comparison with the control group. Maximum epithelium thickness (on the 7th day) and minimum inflammatory cells (on the 14th day) were observed in the experimental group 3 (treated with 37.5 mg/kg of extracted polysaccharide) and positive control, as compared with the control group (p≤0.05). The findings of this research indicated that the polysaccharide extracted from O. erinaceus accelerated the cutaneus wound healing in male rats, which can be used as a natural component in the development of natural source agents for the treatment of cutaneous wounds.