ß-Lapachone accelerates the recovery of burn-wound skin

Abstract

ß-lapachone is a quinone of lapachol extracted from the bark of lapacho tree. Recent findings demonstrated that punched skin wounds of mice healed faster with ß-lapachone treatment. The present study investigates the effects of ß-lapachone on burn-wound skin of C57BL/6 mice injured by a 100°C iron stick. Our results indicated that wounds treated with ß-lapachone recovered faster than those treated with control ointment containing no ß-lapachone. On the third day after burning, the area of ß-lapachone treated-wound was 30% smaller than wound treated with control ointment. H&E and immunohistochemistry staining showed that burn-wound skin treated with ointment containing ß-lapachone healed faster in its epidermis, dermis, and underlying connective tissues with more macrophages appeared than those treated with control ointment alone. RAW264.7 cell, a macrophage-like cell line derived from BALB/C mice, was used as a model for scrutinizing the effect of ß-lapachone on macrophages. We found that the proliferation and the secretion of EGF and VEGF by macrophages were higher in cultures treated with ß-lapachone and that ß-lapachone can also increase the release of EGF with TNF-α pretreatment. We conclude that ß-lapachone plays an important role in accelerating burn wound healing, and that ß-lapachone not only can raise the proliferation of macrophages but also increase the release of VEGF from macrophages.