The effects of Ankaferd, a hemostatic agent, on wound healing

There have been a lot of topical and systemic agents to provide an ideal scar formation and decrease the periods of wound healing process by affecting the factors of healing (inflammatory cells, thrombocytes, extracellular matrix etc.).Ankaferd is an extract used as a hemostatic agent which is prepared in certain ratios of five herbal contents which are used in traditional Turkish medicine. It provides clotting less than a second by making a protein network with eritrocytes and blood proteins (esp. fibrinogen) in plasma and serum.In our study, we observed the effects of Ankaferd on wound healing. So that, wounds were created with 8 mm punch biopsy knots on the back of 32 rats which were seperated into 4 groups of 9 rats. No treatment was done in Group D which is the control group while Group A took topical Ankaferd treatment twice a day, Group B treated with silver sulfadiazine twice a day, and Group C put on base cream which did not include any active agent, twice a day. The rats were followed for 15 days macroscopically and examined histopathologically on 0., 3., 7. ve 15th days by taking biopsies and the levels of hydroxyproline, EGF, VEGF, and PDGF were analysed from the tissue.At the end of our study, it was detected that Ankaferd accelerated the healing process in comparison to control and base cream groups according to the macroscopic and histopathologic results. Also, similar to this situation, it was observed that the healing process in silver sulfadiazine group was faster than control and base cream groups. There was no a significiant difference in hydroxyproline levels between Groups A and B where the wound healing process were faster, but the hydroxyproline levels were significiantly higher in Group D. The only significiantly lower growth factor was VEGF in the silver sulfadiazine group. There were no significiant differences by means of EGF and PDGF levels between all groups.In the light of these observations, it was concluded that Ankaferd accelerated the secondary wound healing process, but in comparison to sulfadiazine, it did not have a superior property. It can be said that Ankaferd can be used for secondary wound healing when presented as a more suitable and economical alternative. More experimental and clinical studies in wider populations are needed to prove and confirm its efficacy.