the wound healing process is very complicated , with many different types of cells and matrices involved to restore damaged tissue in the healing process . wound dressing is needed to shield injured tissue and to accelerate the healing process without any microbial infection and additional damage . criteria for dressing materials to speed wound healing include ( 1 ) biocompatibility , ( 2 ) prevention of dehydration and maintaining a favorable moist environment , ( 3 ) protection from foreign bodies and micro - organisms , ( 4 ) promotion of epithelialization , and ( 5 ) non - adhesive properties . burn wounds are difficult to treat because this type of wound produces exudates that can adhere to dressings during healing . wax coated bio - material can reduce this trauma , but possesses less healing ability than other materials . silk has many advantages for wound dressing materials , such as biocompatibility , minimal inflammatory reaction , capability to promote wound healing , strength , toughness , light weight , and easy chemical modification . medical research of silk includes its uses as membrane , scaffold , and wound dressing materials . a woven textile is very easy to mass produce and fabricate silk dressing with various dimensions . in this study , we use woven silk textile as dressing material to cover the burn wound . the purpose of this study was to assess the effectiveness of wound dressing materials made by silk weave textile on full thickness burn wounds on rats . the composition of silk weave textile is silk fibroin , because the silk textile was degummed to remove sericin . the three materials differed in crystallinity index , fiber diameter , and pore size ( fig . 1 , table 1 ) . the crystallinity index was calculated from fourier transform infrared ( ft - ir ) spectra of silk textile samples following published methods . the fiber diameter and pore size were determined by digital optical microscope ( toolis , daegu , korea ) . ten sprague - dawley rats with body weights of 250 to 300 g were obtained from samtako bio korea co. ( osan , korea ) at 12 weeks of age . each rat was housed in separate stainless steel cages and allowed to adapt for 10 days before starting the main experiment . the animals were maintained on a 12 hours dark / light cycle at about 22c3c and allowed free access to standard laboratory diet and tap water ad libitum during experiments . this experiment was approved by the institutional animal care and use committee of gangneung - wonju national university ( gwnu-2014 - 6 ) . at the beginning of the experiment , general anesthesia was induced with 0.2 ml tiletamine and zolawepam ( 125 mg / ml ; zoletil ; bayer korea , seoul , korea ) and 0.1 ml xylazine ( 10 mg / kg body weight , rompun ; bayer korea ) . the back zone of each animal was shaved widely , and two 22 cm size standard second - degree burns were produced on the back of each rat by hot stamps . twenty defects were produced and randomly divided into four groups . in the control group , 2 ) . at five days post - injury , occlusive dressings were removed and clinical signs and healing states were observed . we checked for signs of inflammation , bleeding from secondary trauma , and other clinical abnormalities . we took a picture of the burn wounds at five , seven , and 14 days post - injury and measured residue denuded surface using size measuring software ( sigmascan - pro ; spss inc . , animals were sacrificed at 14 days post - injury and the remaining scar area was dissected out . h&e staining was carried out to evaluate the infiltration of inflammatory cells including macrophages and giant cells to assess the extent of foreign body reaction ( fig . data were statistically analyzed by one - way analysis of variance , followed by post hoc test ( least significant difference method ) . we rejected null hypotheses of no difference if p - values were less than 0.05 . the composition of silk weave textile is silk fibroin , because the silk textile was degummed to remove sericin . the three materials differed in crystallinity index , fiber diameter , and pore size ( fig . 1 , table 1 ) . the crystallinity index was calculated from fourier transform infrared ( ft - ir ) spectra of silk textile samples following published methods . the fiber diameter and pore size were determined by digital optical microscope ( toolis , daegu , korea ) . ten sprague - dawley rats with body weights of 250 to 300 g were obtained from samtako bio korea co. ( osan , korea ) at 12 weeks of age . each rat was housed in separate stainless steel cages and allowed to adapt for 10 days before starting the main experiment . the animals were maintained on a 12 hours dark / light cycle at about 22c3c and allowed free access to standard laboratory diet and tap water ad libitum during experiments . this experiment was approved by the institutional animal care and use committee of gangneung - wonju national university ( gwnu-2014 - 6 ) . at the beginning of the experiment , general anesthesia was induced with 0.2 ml tiletamine and zolawepam ( 125 mg / ml ; zoletil ; bayer korea , seoul , korea ) and 0.1 ml xylazine ( 10 mg / kg body weight , rompun ; bayer korea ) . the back zone of each animal was shaved widely , and two 22 cm size standard second - degree burns were produced on the back of each rat by hot stamps . twenty defects were produced and randomly divided into four groups . in the control group , 2 ) . at five days post - injury , occlusive dressings were removed and clinical signs and healing states were observed . we checked for signs of inflammation , bleeding from secondary trauma , and other clinical abnormalities . we took a picture of the burn wounds at five , seven , and 14 days post - injury and measured residue denuded surface using size measuring software ( sigmascan - pro ; spss inc . , chicago , il , usa ) . animals were sacrificed at 14 days post - injury and the remaining scar area was dissected out . h&e staining was carried out to evaluate the infiltration of inflammatory cells including macrophages and giant cells to assess the extent of foreign body reaction ( fig . data were statistically analyzed by one - way analysis of variance , followed by post hoc test ( least significant difference method ) . we rejected null hypotheses of no difference if p - values were less than 0.05 . in gross observation , there was no infection and severe inflammation in any group up to 14 days post - injury ( fig . no bleeding tendency was noted when dressings were removed at five days post - injury . there was no statistically significant difference among groups at five days post - injury ( p = 0.587 ) . the mean defect size at seven days was largest in group 3 ( 462.87 mm ) , and smallest in group 1 ( 410.89 mm ) , not a significant difference ( p = 0.341 ) . the mean defect size at 14 days was smallest in group 3 ( 308.28 mm ) and largest in the control group ( 388.18 mm ) , not a significant difference ( p = 0.190 ) . the denuded area was smaller in group 1 ( 84.57 mm ) and group 2 ( 82.50 mm ) compared with the control group ( 195.93 mm ) , not statistically significant differences ( p = 0.066 , 0.062 ) . the difference between group 3 and control was also not statistically significant ( p = 0.136 ) . no evidence was found of severe inflammation , while there were minimal numbers of the inflammatory cells that respond to infection or foreign body reactions ( fig . these results indicate that silk weave textile can be a good dressing material for wound healing . it has biological and mechanical properties such as strength , light weight , biocompatibility , minimal inflammation reaction , and wound healing promotion . recent research examined clinical applications using silk because of its ability to promote adhesion and proliferation of various cells including keratinocytes and fibroblasts . in this study , we found silk dressing materials effective as burn dressing . among burn wound dressing materials , mesh type dressing is often used for burn wound treatment . after the wound is healed , the dressing material should be removed . mesh dressing materials tend to adhere to the wound , inducing secondary injury . to prevent this , this material reduces risk of secondary injury , but does not have the healing potential of mesh materials . we published a study of a powder dressing material using silk and found acceptable burn wound healing . in this study , although lacking statistical significance , the groups with silk membrane applied healed better than the control group , with no secondary injury by adhesion upon removal . further studies with a larger sample size are necessary to determine the effectiveness of silk weave textile for burn wound dressing . regardless of properties , all silk textile samples resulted in better wound healing than the control group . at day 5 , the denuded area was higher in the following order : group 1<group 2<group 3 . at day 14 , although the exact reason for these results are beyond the scope of this study , the wound healing effect might be related to the pore size of silk textile . that is , as the pore size is at an optimum value , wound healing improves . when the pore size of silk textile is too high ( in case of group 3 ) , the exudate from the wound is removed too quickly , limiting effective wound healing . therefore , proper pore size may be necessary for healing , in addition to the healing effect of silk material itself . kim et al . evaluated the biocompatibility of the silk fibroin nanofiber membrane and examined its effect on bone regeneration in a rabbit calvarial model . they observed good biocompatibility with enhanced bone regeneration and no evidence of any inflammatory reaction . there are numerous studies currently , and there will be more development of silk for medical applications . woven silk membranes possess good biocompatibility as burn wound dressing materials . wound healing with silk dressing material was better in all experimental groups , and no silk dressing produced atypical inflammation and only minimal foreign body reactions . in conclusion ,
purpose : this study evaluated woven silk textile for burn wound dressing materials in an animal model.methods:ten rats were used in this experiment . 
 full - thickness 22 cm burn wounds were created on the back of the rats under anesthesia . in the experimental group , 
 the wounds were treated with three different dressing materials from woven silk textile . in the control group , natural healing without any dressing material 
 was set as control . 
 the wound surface area was measured at five days , seven days , and 14 days . 
 wound healing was evaluated by histologic analysis.results:there were no statistically significant differences among groups at five days post injury . 
 the mean defect size at seven days was largest in group 3 ( 462.87 mm2 ) , and smallest in group 1 ( 410.89 mm2 ) , not a significant difference ( p = 0.341 ) . 
 the mean defect size at 14 days was smallest at the group 3 ( 308.28 mm2 ) and largest in the control group ( 388.18 mm2 ) , not a significant difference ( p = 0.190 ) . 
 the denuded area was smaller in group 1 ( 84.57 mm2 ) and group 2 ( 82.50 mm2 ) compared with the control group ( 195.93 mm2 ) , not statistically significant differences ( p = 0.066 , 0.062 ) . 
 the difference between group 3 and control was also not statistically significant ( p = 0.136 ) . 
 in histologic analysis , the experimental groups re - epithelialized more than control groups . 
 no evidence was found of severe inflammation.conclusion:the healing of burn wounds was faster with silk weave textile more than the control group . 
 there was no atypical inflammation with silk dressing materials . in conclusion 
 , silk dressing materials could be used to treat burn wounds .