Promotive effects of four herbal medicine ARCC on wound healing in mice and human

Lingzhi Zhong; Cuijuan Shi; Qian Hou; Rungong Yang; Meirong Li; Xiaobing Fu

doi:10.1002/hsr2.494

Promotive effects of four herbal medicine ARCC on wound healing in mice and human

Health Sci Rep. 2022 Apr 20;5(3):e494. doi: 10.1002/hsr2.494. eCollection 2022 May.

Authors

Lingzhi Zhong^{1

2}, Cuijuan Shi^{3

4}, Qian Hou², Rungong Yang^{1

2}, Meirong Li^{2

5}, Xiaobing Fu^{1

2

6

7}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Tissue Repair and Regeneration The First Medical Center, Chinese PLA General Hospital Beijing China.
² Research Center for Tissue Repair and Regeneration affiliated to the Medical Innovation Research Division and 4th Medical Center PLA General Hospital and PLA Medical College Beijing China.
³ Department of Endocrinology First Teaching Hospital of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine Tianjin China.
⁴ National Clinical Research Center for Chinese Meicine Acupuncture and Moxibustion Tianjin China.
⁵ Central Laboratory, Trauma Treatment Center, Central Laboratory Chinese PLA General Hospital Hainan Hospital Sanya China.
⁶ PLA Key Laboratory of Tissue Repair and Regenerative Medicine and Beijing Key Research Laboratory of Skin Injury, Repair and Regeneration Beijing China.
⁷ Research Unit of Trauma Care, Tissue Repair and Regeneration Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences 2019RU051 Beijing China.

Abstract

Background: Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) had been extensively used in China for wound management and had shown great potential in wound treatment while its mechanism is still needed to be addressed.

Objective: The present study sought to investigate the therapuetic effect of the TCM ARCC on acute and chronic wounds.

Methods: Here, using the ultra-low temperature preparation method, the mixed ultramicro powder prepared with Angelica (A), Angelica (R), Calcined Gypsum (C) and Caleramide (C) named as ARCC. The effects of ARCC on wound healing in adult and aged mice were comparatively evaluated through a full-thickness skin defect model. In addition, we randomly selected 10 patients aged 55 to 70 years from a cohort of 500 patients with diabetic feet to assess their prognosis.

Results: As the results showed that the healing rate had delayed in aged mice compared to adult mice, while ARCC prominently augmented the healing process in aged mice. Moreover, ARCC treatment wounds in aged mice showed accelerated re-epithelization, enhanced granulation tissue formation, and increased vascularization, which was similar to that of adult mice. Furthermore, ARCC also achieved therapeutic effects in diabetic foot patients, accelerating wound healing. The results found that foot ulcers improved significantly 7 days after the ARCC administration, and 80% of patients were healed within 1 month.

Discussion: In the present study, ARCC was found to have therapeutic effects on both acute and chronic wounds in animal models. ARCC also demonstrated therapeutic effects in diabetic feet, which promoted wound healing, prevented wound infection, and avoided the risk of further surgery or amputation. All these evidences suggested ARCC was a promising approach for wound treatment.

Conclusions: ARCC might be recommended as a promising therapeutic medication in diabetic and chronic refractory wounds.

Keywords: angiogenesis; diabetic foot; epithelization; traditional Chinese medicine; wound healing.