Effect of a hexosylceramide fraction of the hemodialysate Solcoseryl on experimental granulation tissue.

This work was carried out to study the effects of a hexosylceramide fraction (Hex-Cer) of the hemodialysate Solcoseryl on developing granulation tissue in rats. Subcutaneously implanted cylindrical hollow viscose-cellulose sponges were used as an inductive matrix for the growth of granulation tissue. In the control animals, the implants were treated daily by withdrawing 1 ml of wound fluid from the central dead space of the implant and by injecting back 1 ml of physiological saline. In the experimental animals, the aspirated wound fluid was replaced by a corresponding volume of a solution containing 0.08 microgram of Hex-Cer in physiological saline. Analyses of the wound fluid and granulation tissue were carried out 4, 10 and 21 days after the implantation. Statistically significant increases in the mean amounts of granulation tissue DNA and RNA were observed in the Hex-Cer group as compared with the controls, indicating an augmented cellularity. Concurrently, the mean amounts of collagen hydroxyproline in the Hex-Cer group were significantly higher than the respective control values. Similarly, on days 4 and 10, the amounts of uronic acids were higher in the Hex-Cer group than in the controls, reflecting an enhanced accumulation of glycosaminoglycans. The tissue hemoglobin reflecting the degree of vascularization rose gradually as the healing progressed, the mean amounts being generally higher in the Hex-Cer group than in the controls. Wound fluid pO2, pCO2 and pH as well as wound fluid hemoglobin and lactate concentrations showed no essential differences between the two groups.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)