title: Acacia honey accelerates in vitro corneal ulcer wound healing model.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  The study aimed to evaluate the effects of Acacia honey (AH) on the migration, differentiation and healing properties of the cultured rabbit corneal fibroblasts.
  
  
  METHODS
  Stromal derived corneal fibroblasts from New Zealand White rabbit (n = 6) were isolated and cultured until passage 1. In vitro corneal ulcer was created using a 4 mm corneal trephine onto confluent cultures and treated with basal medium (FD), medium containing serum (FDS), with and without 0.025 % AH. Wound areas were recorded at day 0, 3 and 6 post wound creation. Genes and proteins associated with wound healing and differentiation such as aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH), vimentin, alpha-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), collagen type I, lumican and matrix metalloproteinase 12 (MMP12) were evaluated using qRT-PCR and immunocytochemistry respectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cells cultured with AH-enriched FDS media achieved complete wound closure at day 6 post wound creation. The cells cultured in AH-enriched FDS media increased the expression of vimentin, collagen type I and lumican genes and decreased the ALDH, α-SMA and MMP12 gene expressions. Protein expression of ALDH, vimentin and α-SMA were in accordance with the gene expression analyses.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These results demonstrated AH accelerate corneal fibroblasts migration and differentiation of the in vitro corneal ulcer model while increasing the genes and proteins associated with stromal wound healing.
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. norzanafi9506@yahoo.com.
authors.forename: Norzana
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Abd Ghafar
authors.affiliation: Department of Anatomy, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Choy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ker-Woon
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Chua Kien
authors.initials: CK
authors.lastname: Hui
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Yasmin Anum
authors.initials: YA
authors.lastname: Mohd Yusof
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Medical Centre (UKMMC), Jalan Yaacob Latif, Bandar Tun Razak, Cheras, 56000, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
authors.forename: Wan Zurinah
authors.initials: WZ
authors.lastname: Wan Ngah
mesh_terms: D000045:Acacia; D000818:Animals; D001688:Biological Products / Q000737:chemistry / Q000494:pharmacology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000187:drug effects; D002465:Cell Movement / Q000187:drug effects; D003315:Cornea / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects*; D003320:Corneal Ulcer / Q000378:metabolism*; D005347:Fibroblasts / Q000166:cytology / Q000187:drug effects; D006722:Honey; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008954:Models, Biological; D011817:Rabbits; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D001688:Biological Products
keywords: Acacia honey; Corneal fibroblasts; In vitro corneal ulcer; Wound healing