Acacia honey accelerates in vitro corneal ulcer wound healing model

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. CONCLUSION 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.