A new invention,
papain-based
wound cleanser is formulated by incorporating
papain, a
proteolytic enzyme extracted from Carica papaya into the formulation. This cleanser is invented to simplify the methods in
wound management by combining
wound cleansing and
wound debridement using a single formulation. This study describes the preparation and preclinical study of
papain-based
wound cleanser in accelerating wound healing. In this study,
papain-based
wound cleanser was used to treat
wound incision on Sprague-Dawley rats while distilled water and
Betadine were used as negative and positive control. Twenty-seven clinically healthy white rats were randomly divided into three groups and treated accordingly until the 21st day post-incision.
Wound reduction rates and histological analysis were obtained to asses the healing pattern. Rats treated with
papain-based
wound cleanser showed a progressive wound healing based on the
wound reduction rates and histological analysis when compared with rats treated with distilled water and
Betadine. Better
collagen deposition and presence of skin organelles in rats treated with
papain-based
wound cleanser demonstrated its efficacy in promoting wound healing. In addition to its wound healing effect,
papain-based
wound cleanser is also integrated with antibacterial properties which make it a complete package for
wound management. However, further studies should be carried out to ensure its safety for human usage.