Mechanisms involved in the effect of chitosan in enhancing healing.

摘要

Chitosan is a natural biopolymer that consists of a poly beta (1-4) glucosamine. It has been described as being a wound healing accelerator. In this study, two approaches were taken to investigate the biological basis of wound healing enhancement by chitosan. Firstly, the antibacterial effect of chitosan was tested in-vitro, focusing on two bacteria strains, E.coli and S.aureus using the microbroth dilution assay and the gel diffusion test. The microbroth assay showed that chitosan and the acetic acid solvent had the same minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) ranges. Likewise, no zone of growth inhibition was detected by gel diffusion test. In the second experimental approach, the cellular response to the intra-peritoneal implantation of chitosan pads in August rats was defined over time and compared to GelfoamRTM. In-vivo, as early as 4 hours post-implantation, the cellular response induced by chitosan was significantly more than that to the GellfoamRTM. However, the reaction declined with time with chitosan, but continued to increase to the Gellfoam RTM pads. After two weeks, there was minimum collagen deposition, i.e. minimal scarring, associated with chitosan pads compared to that of the Gelfoam pads. The cellular response to chitosan was seen to include cells of the immune system. These results support the concept that chitosan enhances wound healing.