Clinical and microbiological outcomes of topical mupirocin-corticosteroid treatment for infected wounds in Wistar rats

What is it about?

Background Wound infection poses major challenges in clinical practice and can be associated with high morbidity or mortality in some instances. Hypothesis/aim This study aimed to determine the effects of different corticosteroid-mupirocin cream combinations on wound infection, wound re-epithelialisation and contraction in male Wistar rats. Methods A randomised controlled study was carried out to compare the effects of different corticosteroid-mupirocin cream combinations on the healing of infected wounds in male Wistar rats. Forty-two male Wistar rats weighing 150–200g were randomly divided into seven groups, with six rats each. Group 1 (negative control) had no wounds. Wounds were made on the lower backs of the rats and infected with bacteria. During each dressing change, the wounds were assessed for signs of infection via the Southampton wound grading, and the percentage re-epithelialisation was also calculated. On day 24 of the experiment, wound swabs were taken and sent for microscopy and culture. The data were analysed using analysis of variance, and p<0.05 was taken as the accepted level of significant difference. Results/findings There was no significant difference in the contraction rate across the groups (p=0.502), however, the 2:1 mupirocin-betamethasone group had the highest degree of wound contraction (77.9%) and a lower infection rate (p=0.0001). Conclusions This study revealed that the combination of mupirocin and betamethasone is more efficacious in promoting wound epithelialisation and wound bacteria. Implications for clinical practice The use of mupirocin-betamethasone combination is effective in the healing of infected wounds.

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