Efficacy of human heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor in healing experimental chemical burns

According to the WHO, burns are the third most common cause of traumatic skin injuries. Chemical burns are characterized by a complex course and a long healing process. The use of the representatives of the epidermal growth factor family seems to be a promising direction in the treatment of chemical burns. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the recombinant human heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor (rhHB-EGF) in treating burn wounds in mice. The expression of a recombinant human HB-EGF analog was induced in the prokaryotic system E. coli BL21 Star, the protein was isolated, purified and its preparations in PBS or in a form of gel containing sodium hyaluronate and potassium sorbate were obtained. The burn wound was simulated in white non-inbred mice by subcutaneous injection of 10% paraformaldehyde solution, healing was observed for 17 days. The initial wound area was measured on the 7th day after the burn injury when the treatment was started. The mice with burn injury were divided into groups of 3 each – untreated mice (control), treated with different preparations: gel without rhHB-EGF; rhHB-EGF in a gel form; rhHB-EGF in PBS solution. The preparations (100 μl, 1.5 mg of rhHB-EGF) were applied to burn wounds daily for 5 days. Wound area, healing rate and histological patterns of skin samples were estimated. It was shown that groups with burn injury treated with HB-EGF protein (both in solution and gel form) demonstrated an advantage in reducing the wound area and inflammatory cells infiltration, improving healing rate, increasing the proliferative activity of epithelial cells and neovascularization as compared with the untreated group. Thus, the use of rhHB-EGF is a promising direction in the treatment of skin wounds. Keywords: chemical burns, heparin-binding EGF-like growth factor, histological analysis, skin regeneration, wound healing