Natural agents and stem cells alter healing in rat skin wounds

A controlled experiment in 70 male rats found that stem-cell treatment produced the greatest measured wound contraction on days 3 and 7, while chitosan had the strongest contraction result by day 14. The study compared four treatments for circular skin wounds: Aloe vera gel, stem cells, chitosan and hyaluronic acid. The fifth group received no treatment.

The researchers divided the animals equally among the five groups and followed wound diameters on the third, seventh and fourteenth days after wounding. The timing was important because the leading treatment changed during the observation period. Stem-cell-treated wounds had the highest contraction rates at the two early assessments, followed by the chitosan-treated group, with no significant difference reported between them at those points.

By day 14, the chitosan-treated group had the highest wound-contraction rate and outperformed the other experimental groups. This result does not mean that chitosan led at every measurement. The observed pattern was an early advantage for stem cells followed by a stronger final contraction result for chitosan.

The investigators combined wound-diameter measurements with histopathology, immunohistochemistry and photomicrographs. These methods were used to examine pathological alterations in the fixed tissue and to assess selected tissue-growth and immune markers. On day 14, the chitosan-treated group had the highest recorded values for the evaluated markers, with the stem-cell-treated group next.

The marker and microscopic findings therefore accompanied, but were not identical to, the contraction measurements. The report presents the interventions within a single preclinical model of experimentally created circular skin wounds. Stem cells contributed most strongly to early contraction, whereas chitosan led at the final measurement and in the day-14 marker assessments.

The findings show measurable differences among the treatments rather than a uniform advantage for one intervention throughout healing. Consequently, the available evidence does not support a detailed assessment of reproducibility or the biological mechanisms behind the reported differences. Because all animals were male rats and the wounds were experimentally induced, the study cannot establish that any of these treatments would improve healing in human clinical wounds.

Nor does it demonstrate that the observed marker changes caused the differences in wound contraction. The supported conclusion is limited to the comparative healing-related outcomes measured in this rat model under the study’s conditions. The article was published in Scientific Reports on October 22, 2026, in an early-access version identified as an accepted manuscript subject to further editing and later replacement by the version of record.

Its results provide a preclinical comparison of natural agents and a cell-based intervention, with the clearest distinction appearing in the timing of contraction and the day-14 histopathological and marker assessments. Any assessment of human safety, effectiveness or clinical use would require separate evidence beyond this experiment.

Subject of Research: Comparative effects of natural agents and stem cells on skin-wound healing in male rats

Article Title: Complementary and alternative natural medicinal agents accelerate skin wound healing effectively through modulating the pathological outcomes in rat model

Article References: Mowafy, R. E., Helal, Z. F., Bader, Y., El-Gendy, E. I. S., & Meghawry, A. (2026). Complementary and alternative natural medicinal agents accelerate skin wound healing effectively through modulating the pathological outcomes in rat model. Scientific Reports, 16(1), Article 33412. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-72849-5

Image Credits: AI Generated

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-72849-5

Keywords: skin wounds, wound healing, rat model, chitosan, Aloe vera, hyaluronic acid, stem cells, wound contraction, histopathology, immunohistochemistry, Complementary, alternative