Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Effect and mechanism of action of botulinum toxin type A on hypertrophic scar in vitro

Juan Ma, Xianglin Dong , Bo Zhang

Department of Plastic Surgery, The First Affiliated Hospital of Xinjiang Medical University, Urumqi, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region 830054, China;

For correspondence:- Xianglin Dong Email: xldong0448@163.com Tel:+869914361251

Accepted: 3 November 2023 Published: 30 November 2023

Citation: Ma J, Dong X, Zhang B. Effect and mechanism of action of botulinum toxin type A on hypertrophic scar in vitro. Trop J Pharm Res 2023; 22(11):2305-2310 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v22i11.9

© 2023 The authors.
This is an Open Access article that uses a funding model which does not charge readers or their institutions for access and distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0) and the Budapest Open Access Initiative (http://www.budapestopenaccessinitiative.org/read), which permit unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly credited..

Abstract

Purpose: To examine the effect of botulinum toxin type A (BTXA) on the formation of hypertrophic scar and to unravel its mechanism of action.

Methods: HSF cells were isolated from hypertrophic scars and cultured. Immunohistochemistry (IHC) assays were performed to determine TGF-β1, FN, and Col1 expressions in hypertrophic scar and normal tissues while the expressions and phosphorylation of p38, ERK, JNK, as well as the expressions of α-SMA, Col1 and FN1 in HSF cells were evaluated by immunoblot techniques. CCK-8 and Transwell assays were used to assess the effect of BTXA on the viability and motility of HSF cells.

Results: BTXA suppressed MAPK pathway in hypertrophic scar fibroblasts (p < 0.01). It also suppressed excessive collagen deposits in hypertrophic scar through MAPK pathway (p < 0.01), and restrained HSF growth and motility via MAPK pathway (p < 0.01).

Conclusion: BTXA suppresses hypertrophic scarring via MAPK pathway and thus, can potentially be developed as a drug for the treatment of hypertrophic scarring.

Keywords: Hypertrophic scar, Botulinum toxin type A (BTXA), MAPK pathway, Collagen deposition, Fibroblasts