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Pycnogenol was applied topically to experimental wounds inflicted on healthy rats by means of a branding iron. The wound-healing time was taken as the number of days required for 50% of the scabs to separate spontaneously from the animals. Application of a gel formulation containing 1% Pycnogenol significantly shortened the wound healing time, by 1.6 days compared with the group treated with gel only (15.4 days). The application of 2% Pycnogenol decreased the healing time by almost 3 days, while 5% Pycnogenol further accelerated the wound-healing process. In parallel, Pycnogenol gels reduced the diameter of the scars remaining following complete scab loss in a concentration-dependent manner. In conclusion, Pycnogenol is a potent active ingredient for the treatment of minor injuries.

Oedema was induced in one ear of male mice of the CFLP strain with capsaicin solution (10 microliters/40 micrograms/ear). The development in time and the extent of the oedema were determined by the oedema-disk gravimetric technique. The maximum oedema was attained in less than 1 h, and there was, subsequently, a gradual decrease. The extent of the mouse ear oedema induced in this way and measured after 60 min was inhibited to a statistically significant degree and in a dose-dependent manner by the antihistamine chloropyramine, the antihistamine-antiserotonin cyproheptadine, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent piroxicam, the prostaglandin antagonist di-4-phloretin phosphate, and the lipoxygenase inhibitor nordihydroguairetic acid. The method proved suitable for the detection of oedema and for the biologically quantitative determination of the state of desensitization induced with capsaicin.

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