antibacterial activity of origanum vulgare on staphylococcus aureus in a rat model of surgical wound infection

Background: wound infection is one of the frequent complications in patients with surgical operations. staphylococcus aureus is the most common cause of surgical wound infections. origanum vulgare, a common culinary herb, has been shown to have strong antimicrobial activity, especially against grampositive pathogens. objective: this study was designed to investigate the antibacterial effects of o. vulgare ons. aureus in surgical wounds using a rat model. methods: twenty male spraguedawley rats were divided randomly into two groups of treatment and control rats (1:1). a circular incision was made on the dorsal interscapular region of each rat. then, rats were inoculated topically with 1 times; 104 cfu of s. aureus at the site of skin wounds. o. vulgare extract was applied to wounds twice a day during the experiment. animals of the control group were left untreated. results: the load of bacteria in untreated rats was 7 times; 106 ± 6 cfu/wound while this was 2 times; 105 ±1 cfu/wound for the treatment animals, which was significantly lower. conclusion: results have showed that topical application of o. vulgare extract on the infected wounds included significant antibacterial activity against s. aureus.