Histomorphological and histochemical evaluation of Calendula officinalis Linn. for healing of full thickness skin wound in rabbits

Wound healing potential of topical application of 5% aqueous extract of Calendula officinalis was evaluated in excisional wounds of adult New Zealand white rabbits. The experimental study was carried out on two 2 × 2 cm square full-thickness skin wounds (24) on 12 adult healthy New Zealand white rabbits of 6–8 months age. The rabbits were divided into two treatment groups, group-I for topical application of Calendula officinalis (CO) and group-II for topical application of normal saline (NS), which served as control. Different clinicophysiological and hematobiochemical parameters along with gross, photographic as well as microscopic (histopathological and histochemical) evaluation were recorded for each wound. Calendula officinalis augment wound healing activity in full thickness skin wounds by increasing cellular proliferation, formation of granulation tissue, neovascularization, synthesis of collagen, epithelialization and early histological maturation in rabbits.