Background: About 15% of the 150 million people with diabetes worldwide suffer from foot ulcerations, which often become non-healing chronic wounds. Atorvastatin has anti-inflammatory, fibro proliferative, microvascular pleiotropic properties and able to control wound healing process. Adipose-derived stem cells (ADSCs) provide an attractive source of cell therapy for regeneration of damaged skin being able to self-renewal and differentiating into various cells.
Aim of the Work: To evaluate and compare the effect of atorvastatin versus ADSCs on cutaneous wound healing in diabetic rats.
Materials and Methods: 85 adult male albino rats one for ADSCs preparation and others were divided into six groups each of them was subdivided into subgroups a & b as follow: Subgroup a was sacrificed after 7 days of wounding. Subgroup b was sacrificed after 14 days of wounding. GI control, GII (wounded, non-diabetic rats), GIII (non-treated, wounded diabetic group), GIV (Vaseline and lanoline treated wounded diabetic), GV (ADSCs treated, wounded diabetic rats) injected with single intradermal ADSCs at the edge of the wound one day post wounding. GVI (atorvastatin treated wounded diabetic rats) .Skin specimens were taken from the wound site, processed and stained with H&E, Masson's trichrome and immunohistochemical stain for vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF).
Results: Wounds of diabetic groups (III &IV) showed delayed healing of wound as compared to the non diabetic group II with failure of re-epithelization and weak to moderate positive VEGF immunoreactions.Whereas, groups treated with atorvastatin or ADSCs exhibited better healing of the wound. However ADSCs group (V) showed better organization of collagen together with reappearance of skin appendages which were missed in atorvastatin group (VI).
Conclusion: Both atorvastatin and ADSCs proved a definite ameliorating effect on the wound healing of diabetic rats. However, ADSCs administration denoted a more remarkable therapeutic healing effect compared to Atorvastatin.