Abstract

Hyaluronan or hyaluronic acid (HA) has been proposed as a therapeutic agent of wounds. Aim: Pre-clinical evaluation of possible HA-containing jelly therapeutics for veterinary and human use. Methods: 120 Spraguey Dawley rats were tested for (5 60) or 7 (60) days. On the dorsum of each animal, we performed a wound with an 8 mm cutaneous biotome. Treatments were as follows: spontaneous control (C) allowing spontaneous recovery; placebo (P), positive control (C+) and therapy with 2 %, 4 % and 8 % of HA jelly. In each sacrifice 30 rats were used for planimetry studies and 30 rats for histological studies. Staining was performed with: haematoxylin- eosin (H/E) and Masson´s trichromic to evaluate the dermal reconstitution (DR) and epithelial migration (EM). Planimetry studies through a digital image processing estimated the re-epithelized area and other parameters. In all animals the biochemical indicators α amino and amino acids were measured. Results: Treatment with 4 % HA-jelly showed the highest response as evidenced by higher re-epithelization percentage, epithelial migrations and dermal reconstitution. Finally, aminoacids levels increased for all treatments with jelly in analyzed tissues. Conclusion: Results demonstrated that HA concentration in jelly formulations is critical to induce a wound healing response allowing a successful resolution. They identified that the formulation of jelly containing HA 4% is able to provide a strong and balanced healing therapeutic effect and it is a value therapeutic for healing wounds.