368 Omega-7 Accelerates Burn Wound Healing Via Increase Telomerase Activity

Abstract

Delayed re-epithelialization of grafted and donor site wounds of burn patient is the challenging problem. The cell proliferation in the burn wound is negatively affected by many factors. Omega-7 (ω-7) is a most abundant fatty acid in sea buckthorn seed oil that has been shown to be critically involved in skin and mucosal tissue regeneration. We have previously reported that sea buckthorn oil promoted grafted burn wound healing in sheep. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that topical application of ω-7 promotes wound healing via increasing telomerase activity in grafted burn and donor skin wounds. In vitro, scratch injury was made in confluently cultured ovine keratinocytes and effects of 0.1% ω-7 was tested at 0 and 17th hrs (n=3). Furthermore, the number of formed colonies counted at after 72 and 96 hrs. In vivo, total 28 full-thickness flame burn sites of 25 cm2 were made on the both sides of dorsum of 8 sheep. 24 hrs after burn, escharectomy and split-thickness skin grafts were performed. 5% ω-7 was randomly and topically applied to one of two autografted sites. The remaining site received saline. The donor sites were also randomly allocated to 5% ω-7 or vehicle and daily treated day 1 for 14 days. In grafted site, unepithelialized raw surface area, blood flow using laser Doppler, telomerase activity at 14th day were measured. In donor site, complete epithelization time and blood flow were measured. In vitro, the percent of scratch wound closure in ω-7 was significantly higher than control. The number of colonies in ω-7 treated group at 72 and 96 hrs were significantly higher than control (Table). In vivo, 1) the grafted site: Unephithelized raw surface area was significantly smaller in treated sites than control sites at 7th and 14th day. The blood flow in treated sites was significantly greater than in control sites at 7th and 14th day. The telomerase activity in ω-7-tretaed sites was significantly higher than control. 2) Donor sites: The complete epithelization time was significantly shorter in treated sites than in control sites. The blood flow in treated sites was significantly greater than in control sites at 7th day (Table). Topical application of 5% ω-7 accelerates full-thickness burn wound and donor site healing via increasing telomerase activity. ω-7 should be considered as a cost-efficient and effective supplement therapy to boost healing of skin wounds. The results are highly translational to the clinical practice.