Quantitative analysis of mature and immature collagens during oral wound healing in rats treated by brazilian propolis

Immature and mature collagens presents in oral lesions of rat were evaluated. oral ulcer was chemically produced on the tongue of 56 male rats and,then,treated by topic application of solution of propolis (experimental group) and saline solution (control group). the animals were treated for seven days and sacrificed at 2nd,7th,14th,and 21th days. samples of the treated area were processed in laboratory and stained by picrosirius. mean areas of immature collagen in the experimental group at 2nd,7th,14th,and 21th days were,respectively,60.41 μm ± 18.3,67.2 μm ± 16.2,90.77 μm ± 6.64 and 56.48 μm ± 7.56. mean areas of mature collagen evaluated for this same time were: 39.58 μm ± 18.31,32.8 μm ± 16.2,9.23 μm ± 6.64 and 43.53 μm ± 7.56. there was a significant difference between the mean areas of mature and immature collagens between groups at 2nd and 14th days (tukey's test,p≤0.05). propolis used in this study had contributed positively to the wound healing of oral ulcers of rats,probably,due to concentration and alcoholic vehicle.