Effects of oral probiotics administration on the expression of transforming growth factor β and the proinflammatory cytokines interleukin 6, interleukin 17, and tumor necrosis factor α in skin wounds in rats.

Introduction Cytokines and growth factors play key roles during tissue repair. Probiotics have pro-healing properties both in the gastrointestinal epithelium and in the skin. Objective To evaluate the effect of perioperative oral probiotics, on the healing process in skin wound in rats, by histological aspects, and by the expression of TGFbeta, and the pro-inflammatory cytokines IL6, IL7, and TNF-alfa in skin wound tissue. Material and methods After 5 days of preoperative oral administration of either probiotics or maltodextrin, 72 adult male Wistar rats were split into two groups with 36 animals each: one control group and one probiotic group. The rats were anesthetized and subjected to an excisional dorsal square wound, standardized by a mold measuring 2.0×2.0 cm. Each group was subdivided into three subgroups with 12 animals each according to euthanasia day: 3th PO, 7th PO; and 10th PO day. Results Wound contraction was faster with the use of probiotics (p = 0.013). Also fibrosis was significantly higher in the Probiotic group in the 7th PO day (p = 0.028). As for the cytokines, in the probiotic group, there was a reduction of TNFalpha at 3th PO day (p = 0.023); and a reduction of IL6 in the 7th PO day (p = 0.030). There was also a reduction of the expression of IL-17 in 3rd PO day (p = 0.039) and in the 7th PO day (0.024). In contrast, TGF-b was lower in the 10th PO day (p = 0.031) in the probiotic group as compared to controls, indicating that the increase of the fibrosis caused negative feedback with the TGFbeta CONCLUSION: : Probiotics are associated with a shorter inflammatory phase by attenuating the expression of IL-6 and TNFalpha and accelerating the reduction of IL-17 and TGFbeta , leading to a faster and improved cutaneous healing in rats. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.