Delivery of Porphyrins Through Self-Assembling Peptide Hydrogels for Accelerated Healing of Experimental Skin Defects In Vivo.

Content Provider	Europe PMC
Author	Dontas, Ismene A Lelovas, Pavlos Parara, Sofia Galanos, Antonios Agrogiannis, Georgios Goutas, Dimitris Charalambidis, Georgios Nikolaou, Vasilis Landrou, Georgios Kokotidou, Chrysoula Apostolidou, Chrysanthi-Pinelopi Mitraki, Anna Coutsolelos, Athanassios G
Editor	Muacevic, Alexander Adler, John R
Copyright Year	2023
Abstract	Introduction The care and healing of skin defects resulting from different causes has been the object of research to achieve rapid and complete skin regeneration. Hydrogels have been used for their ability to maintain hydration during wound healing, absorb wound exudate, and cover the underlying tissue without adherence while being transparent. In this study, we evaluated the efficacy of a hydrogel (H) with encapsulated porphyrin (H+P) on a rat model of surgically-induced skin defects. Methods Four round 6 mm diameter skin defects were performed under general anesthesia on the dorsal area of 24 three-month-old "Young" and 24 twelve-month-old "Mature" male rats. Each age group was separated into the Control, H, and H+P groups, n=8 each, where no therapy, H, or H+P was respectively applied daily for 20 days. Digital photographs and skin biopsies were taken on the third, seventh, 10th, and 20th postoperative days and evaluated by planimetry, histology, and immunohistochemistry. Results Planimetry results demonstrated significantly decreased perimeter, diameter, and area measurements (p<0.005) of group H+P compared to Control and H groups on days 10 and 20 in the young rats, while in the mature rats, the significant differences were evident earlier (perimeter third day p<0.05; diameter and area seventh day p<0.05 and p<0.005, respectively vs. H). Granulation and scar tissue formation were also reduced in the H+P groups although they were not statistically significant. Conclusions The application of H+P on the skin defects benefited the healing process in both young and mature animal groups, as evidenced by the statistically significant findings of planimetry. The beneficial healing process was more pronounced in the mature animals, both in the level of statistical significance as well as regarding time (evident already on the third day of healing), probably due to porphyrin assisting the reduced healing rate, which is observed in organisms of advanced age.
Journal	Cureus
Volume Number	15
DOI	10.7759/cureus.39120
PubMed Central reference number	PMC10273017
Issue Number	5
PubMed reference number	37332461
e-ISSN	21688184
Language	English
Publisher	Cureus
Publisher Date	2023-05-17
Publisher Place	Palo Alto (CA)
Access Restriction	Open
Subject Keyword	wound healing skin defect self-assembling peptide porphyrin planimetry hydrogel histology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Medicine