Chitosan dressing promotes healing in third degree burns in mice: Gene expression analysis shows biphasic effects for rapid tissue regeneration and decreased fibrotic signaling

Abstract

Burns are a significant health challenge and healing can result in scar formation. Chitosan, a derivative of chitin, has been used to promote wound healing. In this study we used gene expression profiling in a mouse model of full thickness cutaneous burn to assess the benefits of treating with a chitosan lactate dressing. Three days after wounding mice treated with chitosan showed increased expression of genes associated with formation of granulation tissue. At a later time point, seven days after wounding, genes that initially showed increased expression were now down‐regulated, and there was increased expression of genes involved in remodeling suggesting that the chitosan treatment results in accelerated healing. Quantitative RT‐PCR showed modulated mRNA levels for TGFβ1 by the chitosan dressing. TGFβ1 initially promotes healing but extended activity can result in scarring. Importantly we found that expression was elevated at day three, but decreased at day seven suggesting that chitosan treatment will not result in scar formation, and may even be beneficial in preventing scar formation. Additionally, the biphasic regulation of expression of TGFβ1 could be a powerful biomarker for future studies of the wound‐healing potential of chitosan based and other treatments for burn wounds. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Biomed Mater Res Part A, 2013.

Effect of different chitosan derivatives on in vitro scratch wound assay: A comparative study

“…Chitosan, a derivative of chitin, which is one of the most abundantly found natural polymers, has numerous biomedical applications, in particular, chitosan has been used to promote wound healing [28][29][30]. In fact, chitosan is suitable for use in wound dressings, as not only it aids the healing process but also, it is biodegradable, biocompatible, nontoxic, bioadhesive, bioactive, non-antigenic, anti-microbial and at the same time it exerts haemostatic effects [9,31].…”

Chitosan as a starting material for wound healing applications

“…As shown in burn wounds in mice, chitosan increases the expression of TGF-β1 and collagen production in the early post-injury phase (day 3), facilitating tissue regeneration. In the late post-injury phase (day 7), chitosan decreases TGF-β1 expression, which would otherwise promote scar formation (Baxter et al, 2013). Such modulation is thought to accelerate the wound healing process.…”

Clinical potential of DAC-70 sol

“…wound healing dressings [7,8], hemostatic materials [9], drug carriers [10,11], etc. All these works are promising, though clinically used materials have been limited yet.…”