We evaluated the effect of Wubeizi (WBZ) ointment on keloids. Keloid-derived fibroblast primary cultures were used to evaluate the effect of the different concentration of WBZ ointment on the expression of type I and III procollagen in keloid fibroblast primary cultures using dot blot assay. Type I and II precollagen cDNA probes labeled with non-radioactive digoxin were used for dot blot. Cell cultures were divided into 4 groups: The large dose group received 1 g/ml of WBZ, middle dose, and small dose groups received 0.5 and 0.25 g/ml of WBZ, respectively. The control group received serum-free medium without WBZ. Our results showed that type I and III procollagen mRNA expression was reduced significantly in the large dose and middle dose groups compared to the control group. Type I and III procollagen mRNA expression level in the small dose group had no statistically significant difference with the control group. However, the difference between the large dose group and the small dose group was statistically significant. We concluded that WBZ ointment aqueous solution restricted keloid fibroblast proliferation by downregulating the expression of type I and III procollagen and therefore reducing collagen deposition in keloid tissue.
Keywords: Wubeizi ointment; fibroblasts; keloid; procollagen gene; proliferation.