Table 3.

Effect of PPE-HA-AgNP-loaded hydrogel at different concentrations on lesion severity.

Group	Lesion	Score
Control	Excessive damage to the skin with complete hair loss	5
Commercial cream	Slight redness, mild swelling, bald patches, and scaly areas	2
PPE-HA-AgNPsI	Large areas with redness and ulceration	3
PPE-HA-AgNPsII	Redness on a well-defined area with swelling, bald patches, and scaly areas	2
PPE-HA-AgNPsIII	Slightly erythematous skin	1

Control: the rats in this group had an experimental cutaneous wound with subsequent C. albicans strain infection and received no treatment; commercial cream: rats in this group had an experimental cutaneous wound with subsequent C. albicans infection and received a commercially available ketoconazole cream (2%) as a reference drug; PPE-HA-AgNPsI: the rats in this group had an experimental cutaneous wound with subsequent C. albicans infection and received a PPE-HA-AgNP formulated nanocomposite at 25% concentration; PPE-HA-AgNPsII: the rats in this group had an experimental cutaneous wound with subsequent C. albicans infection and received a PPE-HA-AgNP formulated nanocomposite at 50% concertation; PPE-HA-AgNPsIII: the rats in this group had an experimental cutaneous wound with subsequent C. albicans infection and received a PPE-HA-AgNP formulated nanocomposite at full concentration.