Abstract
Metabolic Stimulants and Wound Healing T. H. C. Barclay, D. P. Cuthbertson and A. Isaacs (Quart. J. Exp. Physiol, 32, 309; 1944) measured the time required for healing standard circular skin wounds in rats. In normal animals the time was about 20 days. Addition of dried thyroid gland to the diet throughout the healing period reduced the average healing time by 11 per cent. Addition of 2-4-α-dinitrophenol (0·012 per cent of diet) reduced the healing time by 15–27 per cent. Larger doses of dinitrophenol (0·09 per cent of diet) were without effect, possibly because of the great loss of weight which occurs. The results were shown to be statistically significant; but the authors do not think that they justify the use of these stimulants to aid wound healing in patients. It has been shown by others that these substances have no effect on the rate of cell proliferation in vitro, and it is suggested that the in vivo effect may be due either to increased circulation-rate improving the blood supply to the wound, or to cell proliferation induced by some product of the increased body catabolism.
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Research Items. Nature 154, 152–153 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/154152a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/154152a0