Burns : journal of the International Society for Burn InjuriesOct 9, 2025

Speeding up burn healing with a gel made from natural plant extract and zinc oxide nanoparticles

Regenerative Health Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗

Updated Jan 7, 2026

Abstract

Hydrogels containing alginate, carboxymethylcellulose, zinc oxide nanoparticles, and Tussilago farfara showed improved skin regeneration in a rat model after 14 days.

The hydrogels demonstrated a porous structure and favorable swelling and degradation rates.
Blood compatibility and clotting index were optimal, indicating good biocompatibility.
Tussilago farfara and zinc oxide nanoparticles exhibited antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
Histopathological evaluation revealed more complete re-epithelialization and tissue regeneration in treated groups compared to controls.
Initial findings suggest these hydrogels may be effective for treating burn wounds, though further research is needed.

Simplified

The use of hydrogel-based drug delivery systems can help achieve the functional integrity of the skin after injury. This study focuses on preparing alginate/carboxymethylcellulose/zinc oxide nanoparticles/Tussilago farfara hydrogel and evaluates its regenerative effects on burn wounds. Zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnONPs) act as an antibacterial agent, while Tussilago farfara (T. farfara) facilitates the wound healing processes. Characteristics of hydrogel treatment groups, in vivo studies, and histopathological evaluation were assessed 14 days after treatment. The hydrogels were fully characterized and tested in vitro and in a rat model for biocompatibility and wound-healing efficacy. The results showed a porous structure, favorable swelling and degradation rates, optimal blood compatibility and blood clotting index, and blood absorption capacity. Biocompatibility was confirmed by MTT assay. T. farfara/ZnONPs-containing hydrogels showed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The histopathological results showed more complete re-epithelialization and tissue regeneration compared to the other investigated groups. The initial outcomes suggest that the alginate/carboxymethylcellulose/ZnO/T. farfara hydrogel could be a good way to treat burn wounds, but more research is needed to confirm this.

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Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

PubMed

Speeding up burn healing with a gel made from natural plant extract and zinc oxide nanoparticles

Abstract

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Competing interests

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