BACKGROUND: Open wounds affecting the distal part of limbs are commonly seen in horses. Due to certain factors, such as limited connective tissue available, potentiated growth of excessive granulation tissue, risk of contamination, and poor response to common treatments, healing of these wounds becomes a major problem for veterinarians on a number of occasions. Application of Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSC) for enhancing wound healing has received a great deal of scientific attention. Among the MSCs, those derived from adipose tissue are frequently used owing to their availability, large number of cells after the primary harvest, and the capacity to differentiate to different cell lines.OBJECTIVES: The current study aimed to evaluate type 1 and 3 collagen genes expression in horse distal limb wounds treated via adipose-derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells and its comparison with bone marrow-derived stem cells.METHODS: After treatment of the experimental open wounds created in the distal limbs of four horses via autologous MSCs, real-time PCR was used for evaluating and comparing the expression of type I and III collagen genes in the healing wounds.RESULTS: Significant differences in the expression of type I and III collagen genes were observed between the treatment groups. Despite the fact that the greatest collagen genes expression belonged to bone marrow-derived MSCs, no significant differences were seen with adipose-derived MSCs.CONCLUSIONS: Owing to the advantages and an acceptable performance, adipose-derived MSCs could be considered as a novel approach to enhancing limb wound healing in horses.

BACKGROUND: Flufenamic acid is a member of the fenamates and is used as an analgesic and NSAID drug. According to the ability of this drug on blocking connexin and preventing leakage of substances such as ATP from cells, it seems to be beneficial in healing diabetic wounds. OBJECTIVES: Evaluation of the effects of topical flufenamic acid as a connexin-channel blocker on skin wound healing in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. METHODS: In this study diabetics was induced in 40 male rats by IP injection of 150mg/kg of alloxan and they were divided to 4 groups. After anesthesia, 2×2 cm incision was made on the back of the rats and the skin was separated completely. Three groups were treated by 2, 5 and 10 percent concentration of flufenamic acid ointment separately, and one group was treated by Vaseline and ucerine ointment as control. Bandage and ointment were changed daily and the procedure was carried out for 21 days. The wound surface was measured on odd days. Half of the rats of each group on day five and half of them on day 21 were euthanized to get pathologic slides. RESULTS: Process of healing, fibroblast concentration, epithelialization, angiogenesis, collagen formation and wound closure in 2 percent group were better than other groups and in control, 5 and 10 percent groups had a decreasing trend respectively and had a significant difference. In the last two groups, the healing process was disrupted. CONCLUSIONS: The 2 percent concentration of drug not only did not show potent anti-inflammatory effects, but also improved the process of healing by blocking the connexin 43 and inhibition of ATP release, while in the concentration of 5 and 10 percent, anti-inflammatory effects of the drug predominated and delayed the healing process.

The study was carried out to evaluate the feasibility and efficacy of digital planimetry apps for wound measurement in dogs. Twenty four clinical cases of dogs with the history of wound presented for wound management were randomly divided into four groups consisting of six animals each and wound measurements were taken on 0, 2, 4 and 7th day. The wound was measured with length, breadth, area and circumference using Imito Measure mobile application through smart phone camera. Based on reduction in wound size healing rate was assessed. Digital planimetry applications are accurate and precise in wound measurement compare to standard ruler method and tracing method.

A 10-year-old, spayed female, Maltese dog presented with a 2-day history of severe left eye squint. Slit-lamp biomicroscopy showed a deep corneal defect stained into a doughnut shape together with hypopyon in the anterior chamber. Based on these results, a diagnosis of descemetocele and uveitis in the left eye was made. Deep keratotomy combined with a nictitating membrane flap effectively resolved the descemetocele without complications. The surgical procedures performed on this patient were easy and effective, and could be used as an alternative to graft surgery for descemetocele treatment.

Wound healing is a fundamental response to tissue injury and several natural products have been shown to accelerate the healing process. The present study was undertaken to determine the safety and efficacy of the topical treatment of acetone leaf extracts of Combretum imberbe, Combretum nelsonii, Combretum albopuntactum and Terminaliasericea based on their in vitro antimicrobial activity. Four circular full-thickness skin wounds were made on the backs of eight anaesthetised Wistar rats using aseptic techniques. The treatments were administrated topically using 10% and 20% concentrations of each extract in aqueous cream in separate treatments. Indications of erythema, exudate, crust formation, swelling and ulceration were used to determine the wound healing process. All of the wounds closed completely within 17 days. Throughout the experiment, a subcutaneous probe was used to determine that the body temperature and body weight of the rats were within the normal range. C. imberbe and C. nelsonii extracts accelerated wound healing, but there was no significant difference in wound contraction using 10% and 20% concentrations of the extracts in cream. The results also showed the potential usefulness of this model to measure accelerating wound healing. The extracts could perhaps overcome defects associated with healing failure in chronic wounds and prevent secondary bacterial and fungal infections.

The objective of this study was to compare wound healing in stomach with CO₂ laser and scalpel incision by measuring the extent of bleeding, the ease of gastric incision, incision time, degree of adhesion and wound healing degree in dogs. Sixteen healthy dogs were used. Two symmetrical incisions were made in ventral aspect of the stomach between the greater and lesser curvatures were made with scalpel and 0.2 mm spot diameter CO₂ laser (8W, continuous wave) in sixteen dogs. And then each wound was closed with absorbable suture in a two-layer inverting seromuscular pattern. At 3, 7, 14 and 21 days after initial wounding, each wound was taken for histological observation. On surgery, the extent of bleeding, the ease of incision and incision time showed significant differences between the groups. The CO₂ laser provided better hemostasis (p less than 0.05) and smaller postoperative adhesion compared with the scalpel. However, the scalpel produced faster speed of incision and was easier to handle than the CO₂ laser (p less than 0.05). Although there was no considerable difference between the two groups in histological observation, necrosis and calcium deposit tended to be larger in the CO₂ laser than in the scalpel.

The primary goal of the would healing is rapid wound closure. Recent advances in cellular and molecular biology have greatly expanded our understanding of the biologic processes involved in wound repair and tissue regeneration. This study was conducted to develop a new sponge type of biomaterial to be used for either wound dressing or scaffold for tissue engineering. We designed to make a comparative study of the wound healing effect of silk fibroin/hyaluronic acid (SF/HA) blend sponge in full-thickness dermal injury model of rat.

The effects of 3 occlusive dressing materials and a standard, nonadherent dressing material on healing of full-thickness skin defects were evaluated in dogs. Two wounds measuring 2 X 2 cm were created bilaterally (4 wounds/dog) on the dorsolateral aspect of the trunk of 12 Beagles. Wound treatments were evenly distributed between 4 sites, using a Latin square design. Treatments evaluated were: equine amnion (group A), biosynthetic hydrogel dressing (group B), transparent polyethylene sheeting (group T), and a semi-occlusive rayon/polyethylene, nonadherent dressing (group C). Rates of contraction and epithelialization of group-A wounds were significantly greater than those of wounds of groups C, B, and T. On days 14, 21, and 28, mean percentage of wound contraction and mean percentage of total wound healed in group A exceeded those wounds in groups C, B, and T. On day 28, wounds in group A were significantly smaller than wounds in groups B and T, but were not significantly smaller than wounds in group C. All wounds in group A achieved 100% healing during the 28-day study period. Mean time for complete healing of group-A wounds was 21 days. The percentages of wounds completely healed by day 28 for groups B, C, and T were 25, 67, and 25%, respectively. Results indicate that use of equine amnion as an occlusive biological dressing on full-thickness wounds in dogs increases rate of healing.

Thirty young ponies were examined endoscopically for evidence of gastric ulceration. Seven ponies had noninduced gastric ulcers present at the initial examination and were eliminated from the study. In an attempt to induce gastric ulcers experimentally, flunixin meglumine (1.1 mg/kg of body weight, IM, q 8 h) was administered for 7 days to the 23 ponies with endoscopically normal gastric mucosa. During the 7 days of flunixin administration, 11 ponies developed gastric ulcers that were appropriate for study. The 11 ponies were randomly allotted to 2 groups. Group-A (n = 5) and group-B (n = 6) ponies received ranitidine (4.4 mg/kg, PO, q 8 h) and corn syrup, respectively, until ulcers healed or for a maximum of 40 days. General anesthesia was induced every 3 to 5 days for visual evaluation of ulcer healing by use of a video endoscope. The earliest complete healing of gastric lesions observed in a corn syrup-treated pony was at 17 days. At 40 days, 3 of 5 and 3 of 6 ponies of the ranitidine and corn syrup-treated groups, respectively, had healed ulcers. Results of this study indicate that: noninduced gastric ulcers may be common in young ponies, flunixin meglumine may be effective in inducing gastric ulcers for gastric healing studies in young ponies, and ranitidine (4.4 mg/kg, q 8 h) is not significantly effective in accelerating healing of experimentally induced gastric ulcers in ponies under conditions of this study.

Healing of cancellous bone graft donor sites in the proximal tibial metaphysis of 12 healthy adult dogs was studied histologically. Cancellous bone was curetted from the metaphysis of the proximal end of the tibia, via a 1-cm diameter circular opening in the medical cortex. A hematoma and fibrovascular tissue filled the bone defect at 2 weeks. At 4 and 8 weeks, endosteal callus, composed initially of cartilage and woven bone and later of lamellar bone, filled the marrow cavity. At 12 weeks, the normal structural arrangement of lamellar bone and hematopoietic marrow was reestablished in the marrow cavity. The medial cortex defect was filled only with lamellar trabecular bone. It was concluded that, in adult dogs, a second cancellous bone graft could be collected from the proximal portion of the tibial metaphysis 12 weeks or more after an initial collection.