Objective To observe the effects of arnebia root oil on wound healing of rats with full-thickness skin defect, and to explore the related mechanism.
Methods Eighty SD rats were divided into arnebia root oil group and control group according to the random number table, with 40 rats in each group, then full-thickness skin wounds with area of 3 cm×3 cm were inflicted on the back of each rat. Wounds of rats in arnebia root oil group and control group were treated with sterile medical gauze and bandage package infiltrated with arnebia root oil gauze or Vaseline gauze, respectively, with dressing change of once every two days. On post injury day (PID) 3, 7, 14, and 21, 10 rats in each group were sacrificed respectively for general observation and calculation of wound healing rate. The tissue samples of unhealed wound were collected for observation of histomorphological change with HE staining, observation of expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) with immunohistochemical staining, and determination of mRNA expressions of VEGF and bFGF with real time fluorescent quantitive reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction. Data were processed with analysis of variance of factorial design,
t test, and Bonferroni correction.
Results (1) On PID 3, there were a few secretions in wounds of rats in the two groups. On PID 7, there were fewer secretions and more granulation tissue in wounds of rats in arnebia root oil group, while there were more secretions and less granulation tissue in wounds of rats in control group. On PID 14, most of the wounds of rats in arnebia root oil group were healed and there was much red granulation tissue in unhealed wounds, while part of wounds of rats in control group was healed and there were a few secretions and less granulation tissue in unhealed wounds. On PID 21, wounds of rats in arnebia root oil group were basically healed, while there were still some unhealed wounds of rats in control group. (2) On PID 3 and 7, the wound healing rates of rats in arnebia root oil group were (39±5)% and (46±4)% respectively, which were close to (34±3)% and (44±4)% of rats in control group (with
t values respectively 0.807 and 0.481,
P values above 0.05). On PID 14 and 21, the wound healing rates of rats in arnebia root oil group were (76±4)% and (90±3)% respectively, which were significantly higher than (60±6)% and (73±5)% of rats in control group (with
t values respectively 2.308 and 3.072,
P<0.05 or
P<0.01). (3) On PID 3, 7, and 14, granulation tissue, fibroblasts, and nascent capillaries in unhealed wound tissue of rats in the two groups both gradually increased, and more ranulation tissue, fibroblasts, and nascent capillaries were seen in unhealed wound tissue of rats in arnebia root oil group. On PID 21, granulation tissue, fibroblasts, and nascent capillaries in unhealed wound tissue of rats in the two groups both gradually decreased. (4) On PID 3, 7, and 14, the numbers of VEGF positive cells and bFGF positive cells in unhealed wound tissue of rats in the two groups both gradually increased; there were more VEGF positive cells and bFGF positive cells in unhealed wound tissue of rats in arnebia root oil group than those in control group. On PID 21, positive expressions of VEGF and bFGF both decreased in unhealed wound tissue of rats in the two groups. (5) On PID 3, 7, and 14, mRNA expressions of VEGF in unhealed wound tissue of rats in arnebia root oil group were higher than those of control group (with
t values from 2.967 to 4.173,
P values below 0.01). On PID 21, mRNA expression of VEGF in unhealed wound tissue of rats in arnebia root oil group was lower than that of control group (
t=-4.786,
P<0.001). From PID 3 to 21, mRNA expressions of bFGF in unhealed wound tissue of rats in arnebia root oil group were higher than those of control group (with
t values from 2.326 to 4.702,
P<0.05 or
P<0.01).
Conclusions Arnebia root oil can promote wound healing of rats with full-thickness skin defect, which may relate to increasing expressions of VEGF and bFGF.
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