Efeito de argila enriquecida com águas residuais de salinas do rn na cicatrização de feridas cirurgicas

Abstract

The Dead Sea hypersaline mud is subject to many studies, which seek to explain its reported medicinal properties and verify its effectiveness in treating skin and joint diseases. This saline mud contains salts such as magnesium chloride, which contribute to wound healing and skin barrier repair and maintenance. A residuum of the production of salt in solar salterns, called brine, presents similar chemical compositions, when compared to the Dead Sea mud. Such residue is usually discarded without regards to the potential environmental damage it may cause, or alternative uses. In this paper, we propose the reuse of brine, in combination with local samples of clay to create a saline mud and reproduce some of the effects found on the Dead Sea mud. To gauge the performance of the mud, its effects on the healing of surgical wounds in guinea pigs (Cavia Porcellus) was studied. A solution containing 0,1% in weight of saline mud was applied on the lesions after the surgical procedure and on the next two days, and compared to wounds treated with regular mud and commercially available saline solution over 21 days. During this experiment the following parameters were studied: wound contraction, volumetric density of granulation tissue, and inflammatory cell count. Results indicate a statistically significant influence of the saline mud treatment on the wound healing process, with the wounds treated with saline mud presenting 82% contraction over 14 days, against 65% contraction of the ones that received regular mud, and 63% of the ones treated with commercial saline solution. The lesions treated with saline mud also presented a smaller number of inflammatory cells, as well as better tissue regeneration. Therefore, we can conclude that brine may be used to enrich clays in medicinal formulations for wound healing