Peritoneal Effects of Fat on the Microscopic Changes in the Wounds Healing Process in the Animal Model

Introduction: Wound healing has always been one of the challenging issues in medicine, of which the details and treatments concern researchers the most. Different agents and drugs affecting wound healing process have been the subjects of many studies. One of these agents which is experimentally used for many years, is the animal peritoneal fat. Yet, there is no documented study of its effects and mechanism in wound healing process. This study is aimed to examine the effect of peritoneal fat in different stages of the process.

Materials and Methods: 36 Wistar male rats were randomly assigned into 6 groups (6 rats in each group) and then they had their lumbar skin punched. Peritoneal fat was administered locally for 3 of the groups while the other half received Vaseline (as placebo) as treatment. one group of the recipients of either methods  were then sacrificed on the first, third, and fifth day from the punching ( a pair of two different groups each day). Specimens from wound area were histologically studied after hemathoxylin and Eosin staining. Data were analyzed using t-test.

Results: Statistically significant increase in neutrophil cell percentage and decrease in lymphocyte percentage was observed in interventional group in comparison with control group on the first day (P<0.05). For the third day, there was a significant increase in macrophage percentage (p<0.01) and a meaningful decrease in neutrophil percentage (P<0.05). Angiogenesis was significantly different between interventional (22.194±2.02) and control (15.22±3.1) groups (P<0.05).  

Discussion: Based on the results of the study, peritoneal fat administration proved to have positive effects on the process of wound healing. More studies are needed to standardize this agent and its usage in human subjects.