Hydrogel incorporated with chestnut honey accelerates wound healing and promotes early HO-1 protein expression in diabetic (db/db) mice

Proper wound management is an increasingly important clinical challenge and is a large and growing unmet need. Pressure ulcers, hard-to-heal wounds, and problematic surgical incisions are emerging with increasing frequency. At present, the wound-healing industry is experiencing a paradigm shift toward innovative treatments that exploit nanotechnology, biomaterials, and biologics. Here we determined the effectiveness of a radiation-processed hydrogel patch for the delivery of chestnut honey (CH) for the promotion of cutaneous wound healing in diabetic mice. CH is a natural compound that has antioxidant and bactericidal effects. Two full-thickness wounds were made on the dorsal side of diabetic (db/db) mice and the wounds were covered with hydrogel-incorporated CH. Time course observations revealed that mice treated with CH hydrogel showed accelerated wound closure and formation of granulated tissue, enhanced Ki-67 expression and early upregulated HO-1 proteins in the wound region compared with water hydrogel or non-treated mice. Taken together, these findings indicate that CH hydrogel can promote wound healing in diabetics with early HO-1 protein expression.