Effect of estrogen on the process of wound healing in diabetic rats

Introduction: Impaired wound healing in diabetic patients is a major clinical problem, which is associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Estrogen has positive effects on neoangiogenesis, reepithelialization and cell proliferation. In this research, effect of estrogen on wound healing in diabetic male rats was investigated. Methods: This study was performed on male Wistar rats (body weight 200±20 g), which were divided into 2 groups of normal and diabetic rats. Each group was divided into 3 subgroups of control, sham and test. A circular full-thickness wound with a diameter of 1.5 cm was created on the back of streptozotocin(stz)-induced diabetic as well as nondiabetic rats. Estradiol benzoate (10 μg/sc) was daily administered to test subgroups for 28 days, while the sham subgroups received injections of placebo. The control subgroup did not receive anything. Size measurement and pathological evaluation of the wound was performed on days 3, 5, 7, 14, 21, 28. Results: In the macroscopic study, there was a delay in the wound healing of diabetic group in comparison with normal group. From day 7, wound healing had considerable change in estradiol subgroups in both normal and diabetic rats (p<0.05). In the microscopic study, coating tissue reorganization, granulation tissue and neoangiogenesis formation were surveyed as semi-quantitative parameters. In all cases, estradiol receiving subgroups showed impressive improvement compared to the sham subgroup. Conclusion: This research finds that estrogen can improve the impaired wound healing of diabetic rats and this effect is related with the rate of wound healing and wound structure.