Histopathological findings. Numerous inflammatory cells including lymphocytes,
plasma cells and macrophages infiltrated the dermis, particularly the deeper dermis
of the untreated lesions on day 10 PI. Many immature fibroblasts and fewer mature
fi brocytes were also present in the dermis of the untreated lesions. The newly formed
collagen fi bers of the untreated lesions were still unorganized and showed a haphazardly distributed pattern at this stage. Angiogenesis was evident in the untreated wounds (Fig.1). New blood vessels were evident in the lesions of untreated lesions at this stage and reepithelialization was not complete in the lesions of three of these animals of the untreated group on day 10 PI, however, the lesions of the remaining two rats showed a thicker epithelium and much mitotic fi gures. The Mean ± SD of the infl ammatory cells and the blood vessels of the treated and untreated lesions are presented in Table 2. As shown in Table 2, compared to those of the control lesions, fewer lymphocytes and macrophages infi ltrated the lesions of the treated animals on day 10 PI. Greater numbers of blood