Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research

Original Research Article | OPEN ACCESS

Suppressive effect of bacoside A on hypertrophic scar formation by downregulation of TGF-β1

Zimiao Chen¹, Lina Lu²

¹Department of Burn Surgery, Yuncheng Central Hospital, Yuncheng; ²Institute of Hematological Diseases, The Third Hospital of Yuncheng, Shanxi 044000, China.

For correspondence:- Lina Lu Email: LAngelukit@yahoo.com Tel:+861860359024

Accepted: 25 August 2018 Published: 30 September 2018

Citation: Chen Z, Lu L. Suppressive effect of bacoside A on hypertrophic scar formation by downregulation of TGF-β1. Trop J Pharm Res 2018; 17(9):1725-1731 doi: 10.4314/tjpr.v17i9.6

© 2018 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 determine the anti-scarring property of bacoside A (BA) in a rabbit model of post-burns hypertrophic scar (HS).

Methods: A total of 16 healthy male rabbits were divided into four groups (4 rabbits/group). The rabbits were subjected to full-thickness burn wound by placing a 10-mm brass rod at 90 ºC on their ears for 20 s, and were untreated (HS group). The remaining rabbits also underwent HS process but were topically treated daily with 0.2, 0.4 or 0.6 % BA gel (HS + 0.2, 0.4, and 0.6 % BA groups) from day 8 to day 34.

Results: The mean values of collagen (types I & III), hydroxyproline (precursor of collagen) and hexosamine, as well as scar index significantly (p < 0.001) decreased after 28 days of topical treatment with BA. Moreover, BA application resulted in improved histological changes with proper arrangement of collagen fibers. Significant (p < 0.001) upregulation or downregulation of transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-β1) and matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1) were observed in the BA-treated rabbits.

Conclusion: Treatment with BA significantly lowers the scarring area of burn wounds by downregulation of TGF-β1. Thus, BA can potentially be developed into a drug for managing injury scars.

Keywords: Hypertrophic scar, Bacoside A, Scar elevation index, Transforming growth factor beta-1, Collagen