Abstract
The four-herb Chinese medicine ANBP is a pulverized mixture of four herbs including Agrimonia Eupatoria (A), Nelumbo Nucifera Gaertn (N), Boswellia Carteri (B) and Pollen Typhae Angustifoliae (P). The combination of the four herbs was first described in Chinese canonical medicine about 2000 years ago for treatment of various trauma disorders, such as hemostasis, antiinflammatory, analgesia, and wound healing, etc. However, the precise mechanisms of ANBP are still unclear. In our study, using rabbit ear hypertrophic scar models of full-thickness skin defect, we showed that local ANBP treatment not only significantly enhanced wound healing by relieving inflammation, increasing formation of granulation tissue and accelerating re-epithelialization, but also reduced scar formation by decreasing collagen production, protuberant height and volume of scars, and increasing collagen maturity. We demonstrated that these effects of ANBP are associated with transforming growth factor (TGF)-β1-mediated signalling pathways through Smad-dependent pathways. ANBP treatment significantly increased expression of TGF-β1 and Smad2/3 mRNA at the early stage of wound healing, and led to markedly decrease expression of TGF-β1 and Smad2/3 compared with the control group after 14 days post-wounding. Taken together, our results defined a bidirectional regulation role of ANBP for TGF-β1/Smad pathway in promoting wound healing and alleviating scar formation, which may be an effective therapy for human wounds at the earliest stage.
Highlights
Wound healing is a dynamic and complex process controlled by many factors
We demonstrated that ANBP promoted wound healing, and reduced scar formation possibly via the bidirectional regulation of transforming growth factor (TGF)-b1/Smad pathway
SEM micrographs of ultralow temperature broken ANBP powder showed uniform and micron-scaled granular structures, but the powder prepared by conventional method varied significantly in size
Summary
Wound healing is a dynamic and complex process controlled by many factors. Once the protective barriers of epidermis and dermis are broken, the physiologic process of wound healing is immediately carried on. Wound healing involves distinct overlapping phases of coagulation, inflammation, proliferation and tissue remodeling [1,2,3]. During this process, a set of complex biochemical events takes place in a closely orchestrated cascade to repair the damage. The goal for wound treatment is fast and scarless healing. Fast healing and scar formation is a pair of contradiction in clinical treatment. There is no wide accepted regimen to both improve wound healing and reduce scar formation. The current treatments [5], which include chemical drugs, pressure therapy, laser therapy, radiation and surgical operation, could not achieve the satisfied results
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