After a disruption of skin integrity, the body produces an immediate response followed by a functional and comparable regeneration period, referred to as wound healing. Although normal
wounds do not need much attention during the healing period, chronic (non-healing)
wounds are the major challenge of current dermatological applications. Therefore, developing new, safe, and effective wound healing drugs has always been an attractive area of international research. In the current study,
sodium pentaborate pentahydrate (NaB),
pluronics (Plu; F68 and
F127), and their combinations were investigated for their wound healing activities, using in vitro and in vivo approaches. The results revealed that NaB significantly increased migration capacity and
superoxide dismutase activity in primary human fibroblasts. Combinations of optimized concentrations for
pluronic block co-
polymers further increased cell migration, and the
messenger RNA (
mRNA) expression levels of important
growth factor and
cytokines (
vascular endothelial growth factor (
VEGF),
transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β), and
tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α)). NaB containing
hydrogel co-formulated with
pluronics was also investigated for their wound healing activities using a full thickness
wound model in rats. Macroscopic and histopathological analysis confirmed that
wounds in combination gel-treated groups healed faster than those of control groups. NaB/Plu gel application was found to increase
wound contraction and
collagen deposition in the
wound area. Therefore, our results suggest that NaB, and its
pluronics combination, could be used in dermatological clinics and be a future
solution for chronic
wounds. However, further studies should be conducted to explore its exact action of mechanism and effects of this formulation on chronic
wounds.