Abstract
In this study, we used an argon-based round atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (APPJ) for enhancing wound healing in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. The APPJ was characterized by optical emission spectroscopy. We induced Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in rats with different amounts of STZ combined with normal and high-fat diets, respectively. The wound area ratio of all the plasma-treated normal and diabetic groups was greatly reduced (up to 30%) compared with that of the untreated groups during healing. Histological analysis revealed faster re-epithelialization, collagen deposition, less inflammation, and a complete skin structure in the plasma-treated groups was found as compared with the untreated control groups. In addition, the new blood vessels of plasma-treated tissues decreased more than untreated tissues in the middle (Day 14) and late (Day 21) stages of wound healing. The plasma-treated wounds demonstrated more transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) expression in the early stage (Day 7), whereas they decreased in the middle and late stages of wound healing. The levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), glutathione peroxidase (GPx), and catalase (CAT) increased after plasma treatment. In addition, plasma-treated water had a higher concentration of hydrogen peroxide, nitrite and nitrate when the plasma treatment time was longer. In summary, the proposed argon APPJ based on the current study could be a potential tool for treating diabetic wounds.
Highlights
In this study, we used an argon-based round atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (APPJ) for enhancing wound healing in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats
Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease in which the β cells in the pancreas do not produce sufficient insulin, which is a hormone that helps maintain a proper balance of blood glucose for energy
The results revealed the upregulated expression of wound healing related factors including VEGF, FGF, HBEGF, and IL-6, which are responsible for angiogenesis or proliferation, after 120 or 180 second plasma treatment[28]
Summary
We used an argon-based round atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (APPJ) for enhancing wound healing in streptozotocin (STZ) induced diabetic rats. NO inhibits vascular smooth muscle contraction and growth, prevents platelet aggregation, and maintains vessel homeostasis It can stimulate endothelial cell proliferation and prevent cell apoptosis, promoting the formation of new blood vessels in angiogenesis. The application of non-thermal atmospheric-pressure plasma jet (APPJ hereafter) in the biomedical field has become increasingly popular[23,24,25] It can be used in tissue engineering, surface modification, and sterilization and in directly treating living cells or tissues such as skin[26,27,28]. We hope to use this argon APPJ with fixed parameters[10] to improve diabetic wound healing and understand more detailed underlying mechanism
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