Effect of a combination of medium chain triglycerides, linoleic acid, soy lecithin and vitamins A and E on wound healing in rats.
OBJECTIVE
The aim of the study was to determine the effect of a combination of medium chain triglycerides (caprylic, capric, caproic and lauric acids), linoleic acid (essential fatty acid), vitamins A and E and soy lecithin, through a morphometric study, on the wound healing kinetics of experimental cutaneous ulcers.


METHODS
A total of 45 male Wistar rats were used, in which a skin flap of total thickness with an area of 4 cm2 was removed. The animals were divided randomly into 3 groups of 15 rats each, Control, Reference and Test groups, which were treated topically with 0.9% NaCl, a preparation of clostebol combined with neomycin sulfate and the test formulation, respectively. The wound areas were measured by digital planimetry at days zero, 3, 7 and 12 postoperative. Based on the wound area, we determined the degree of tissue repair and mean rate of repair at different time intervals.


RESULTS
At day 3, an expansion of the wound area was observed in the Reference group and slight contraction in the Control and Test groups. On the subsequent days, the healing process, according to the degree of repair, proceeded in a linear manner, such that, at day 12, the healed area reached 77.95% of the initial ulcerated region in the Control group, 78.40% in the Reference group and 83.49% in the Test group, showing no significant differences. The overall mean rate of repair was equally similar at 12 days of treatment: 25.79 mm2/dia in the Control group, 25.42 mm2/dia in the Reference group and 27.38 mm2/dia in the Test group.


CONCLUSIONS
The test preparation, applied topically on the experimentally induced cutaneous ulcers in rats, did not accelerate the process of tissue repair by secondary union.
Department of Surgery, Federal University of Ceará, São Paulo, Brazil.
Maria Sonia Felício
MS
Magalhães
Francisco Vagnaldo
FV
Fechine
Rafael Nogueira de
RN
Macedo
Diego Levi Silveira
DL
Monteiro
Cecília Carvalho
CC
Oliveira
Gerly Anne de Castro
GA
Brito
Maria Elisabate Amaral de
ME
Moraes
Manoel Odorico de
MO
Moraes
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004338:Drug Combinations; D004353:Drug Evaluation, Preclinical; D019787:Linoleic Acid / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012883:Skin Ulcer / Q000188:drug therapy*; D030262:Soybean Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D013997:Time Factors; D014280:Triglycerides / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014801:Vitamin A / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014810:Vitamin E / Q000627:therapeutic use; D014815:Vitamins / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects*
D004338:Drug Combinations; D030262:Soybean Proteins; D014280:Triglycerides; D014815:Vitamins; D014801:Vitamin A; D014810:Vitamin E; D019787:Linoleic Acid