Acceleration of Tensile Strength of Incisions Treated with EGF and TGF-β

Abstract

The ability of surgeons to accelerate wound healing through pharmacologic intervention is limited. The effects of locally applied, biosynthetic human epidermal growth factor (EGF) and transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) on tensile strength of experimental incisions were investigated. A single dose of EGF in saline failed to increase tensile strength over controls. Thus, EGF was incorporated into multilamellar liposomes, which prolonged the exposure of incisions to EGF (p < 0.001). A single dose of EGF in multilamellar liposomes produced a 200% increase in wound tensile strength over controls between 7 and 14 days (p < 0.05). Light and electron microscopy of the wounds revealed increased collagen formation and fibroblast proliferation. A single dose of TGB-β in a collagen vehicle stimulated a 51% increase in wound tensile strength at 9 days (p < 0.01). We conclude that addition of EGF and TGF-β in appropriate vehicles stimulates early transient increases in wound tensile strength in normal rats.