Diabetic
ulcer is a challenging complication of
diabetes mellitus but current treatments cannot achieve satisfactory results. In this study, the effect of
Huangbai liniment (HB) and
berberine on the wound healing in high fat diet/
streptozotocin injection induced diabetic rats was investigated by
RNA-seq technology. HB topical treatment promoted wound healing in the diabetic patients and diabetic rats, and it affected multiple processes, of which
IL-17 signalling pathway was of importance. Inhibiting
IL-17a by its inhibitor or antibody remarkably facilitated wound healing and HB significantly repressed the high
IL-17 expression and its downstream targets, including Cxcl1, Ccl2, Mmp3, Mmp9,
G-CSF, IL1B and
IL6, in diabetic
wounds, promoted T-AOC, SOD activity and GSH levels; decreased the levels of
nitrotyrosine and 8-OHdG; enhanced angiogenesis-related CD31,
PDGF-BB and ANG1 expression; inhibited cleaved
caspase-3 levels and promoted TIMP1 and TGFB1. Moreover,
berberine (a major component in HB) repressed the
IL-17 signalling pathway, and promoted wound healing in
diabetes mellitus. This study highlights the strategy of targeting
IL-17a in diabetic
wounds, deepens the understanding of wound healing in
diabetes mellitus in a dynamic way and reveals the characteristics of HB and
berberine in promoting wound healing of
type 2 diabetes mellitus.