Abstract Alllicin is one of the pharmacologically active garlic sulfur compounds that have antimicrobial (antibacte- rial, antiviral, antifungal and antiparasitic) and vasodilating effects. Five normal, male, mixed-breed dogs were selected to investigate the effects of allicin (5 mg/ml in methyl cellulose gel) as a topical treatment for full-thickness, excisional wounds. The dogs were approximately 3 years old. The histological aspects of second-intention wound healing were studied. Eight full-thickness skin wounds (20×20 mm) were created on the back of each dog. On days 0, 7, 14 and 21, each dog received two wounds, symmetrically, and were assigned to one of two groups: control (methyl cellulose gel) or test (allicin 5 mg/ml methyl cellulose gel). Wounds were treated once daily for a week. Left-side wounds were treated with allicfin (test group) and right-side wounds were treated with methylcellulose gel (control group). At day 28 (4 weeks) after initial wounding, biopsies were taken from wounds for histological examina- tion. The density of inflammatory cells in the center of the day 7 wounds was significantly lower in test group (P=0.041), but the density of fibrocytes and fibroblasts in the center of day 7 wounds was significantly higher in the test group (P=0.042). No significant differences were observed in the amount of collagen and fibrin between the test and control wounds (P>0.05).

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