Antibacterial and Wound Healing Potential of Ethanolic Extract of Zingiber Officinale in Albino Rats

Abstract

Medicinal plants are used in a wide range in Sudan to treat several diseases, Zingiber officinale Roscoe is one of the plants that are central to the lives of traditional societies in Africa it has been reported as traditional folkloric medicine, the plant roots are used in some parts in Sudan for wound healing, this study aimed to assess the antibacterial and wound healing activity of Zingiber officinale ethanolic extract in wound infected albino rats and compare the effect of the plant against commercial reference drug against Staphylococcus aureus, methods of this study included fifteen swiss wistar albino rat, divided into three groups of five rats (Group 1 (wounded +infection, Group 2 wound +infection+ fusiderm ointment, Group 3 wound + infection +12% ethanol extract of Zingiber officinale with soft yellow paraffin), all results included microbial examination for bacterial count, histological examination for the presence of inflammatory cells and collagen and healing percentage measured by transparent ruler, the results of in vitro antimicrobial activity of the extract gave clear zones of inhibition on the standard strains of Proteus mirabilis, Klebsiellia pneumoniae, Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and Staphylococcus aureus, significant reduction of bacterial number observed in ginger treated group from.5×10 8 cfu/ml to.5×10 2 cfu/ml on day 8 of dressing while the positive control group showed bacterial count reduction from.5×10 8 cfu/ml to complete diminishing of bacterial infection. Significant difference in the wound closure was observed in positive control group (fusiderm) to give a percentage of 55.7% on day 4 and 91% on day 8. The ginger treatment group also showed faster wound healing with a percentage closed to positive control 51.4% on day 4 and 90.6% on day 8, while the wound healing rate was slow and took more than 8 days in negative control, histological examination of granulated tissue done by Haematoxylin and Eosin stain and van Gieson stain showed more collagen fibers formation and reduction of inflammatory cell during the healing period, finally the study concluded that Zingiber officinale ethanolic extract exert antibacterial and wound healing capacity, this study established a good support to the use of plants in herbal medicine and as abase for the development of new drugs.