A Study on the Effects of Modulation of Intracellular Calcium on Excisional Wound Healing in Rabbit

An in vitro study on the role of intracellular calcium ions in healing of excisional wound in rabbit was undertaken. We employed two drugs namely, glibenclamide and nitroglycerin that are topically applied in vivo to modulate the activity of intracellular calcium. Our model consisted of a 15 ´ 15 mm excisional wound. Seven groups of New Zealand rabbits were used. The first three groups served as untreated, Vaseline- and lubricating jell vehicle-treated as controls. The remaining groups received topically 0.5 g of nitroglycerine (2 % in Vaseline base) or glibenclamide (1, 2 and 4% in lubricating jell) on the day of excision and continued for 11 days. Using wound surface area measurement, complemented with measurement of the breaking strength and histological assessment, the results showed that inhibition of intracellular calcium ion had a favorable effect on wound healing. The mean wound half-lives and breaking strength were significant and concentration dependently reduced in glibenclamide-treated group. In contrast, in nitroglycerin-treated group the rate of wound healing and breaking strength were increased relative to untreated control and Vaseline treated groups. Histological findings revealed more organized collagen fibers and angiogenesis in nitroglycerin-treated wounds. The present study demonstrated that intracellular calcium ion has an important role on the overall process of wound healing. This information may be utilized in further studies to assess its role in healing of human wounds