The Rappaport Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
J Invest Dermatol. 2010 Jan;130(1):287-94. doi: 10.1038/jid.2009.219.
Wound healing in diabetic patients is slower than in healthy individuals. Erythropoietin (EPO) has non-hemopoietic targets in the skin, and systemically administered EPO promotes wound healing in experimental animals. This study investigated the effect of topical EPO treatment on defective wound repair in the skin of diabetic rats. Full-thickness excisional skin wounds were made in 38 rats, of which 30 had diabetes. The wounds were then treated topically with a cream that contained either vehicle, 600 IU ml(-1) EPO (low dose), or 3,000 IU ml(-1) (high dose) EPO. We assessed the rate of wound closure during the 12-day treatment period, and microvascular density (MVD), vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), and hydroxyproline (HP) contents, and the extent of apoptosis in wound tissues at the end of the 12-day treatment period. Topical EPO treatment significantly reduced the time to final wound closure. This increased rate of closure of the two EPO-treated wounds in diabetic rats was associated with increased MVD, VEGF, and HP contents, and a reduced extent of apoptosis. In light of our finding that topical EPO treatment promotes skin wound repair in diabetic rats, we propose that topical EPO treatment is a therapeutically beneficial method of treating chronic diabetic wounds.
糖尿病患者的伤口愈合速度比健康个体慢。促红细胞生成素（EPO）在皮肤中有非造血靶标，全身性给予 EPO 可促进实验动物的伤口愈合。本研究探讨了局部 EPO 治疗对糖尿病大鼠皮肤缺陷性伤口修复的影响。在 38 只大鼠中进行了全层切除皮肤伤口，其中 30 只为糖尿病大鼠。然后，用含有载体、600 IU/ml（低剂量）或 3000 IU/ml（高剂量）EPO 的乳膏对伤口进行局部治疗。我们评估了 12 天治疗期间伤口闭合的速度，以及在 12 天治疗期末伤口组织中的微血管密度（MVD）、血管内皮生长因子（VEGF）和羟脯氨酸（HP）含量以及细胞凋亡程度。局部 EPO 治疗可显著缩短最终伤口闭合所需的时间。糖尿病大鼠的两种 EPO 治疗伤口的闭合速度加快与 MVD、VEGF 和 HP 含量增加以及细胞凋亡程度降低有关。鉴于我们发现局部 EPO 治疗可促进糖尿病大鼠的皮肤伤口愈合，我们提出局部 EPO 治疗是治疗慢性糖尿病性伤口的有益治疗方法。
