CADEXOMER-IODINE OINTMENT SHOWS STIMULATION OF EPIDERMAL REGENERATIONIN EXPERIMENTAL FULL-THICKNESS WOUNDS

The use of iodine in wound healing is still controversial, Both wound healing-stimulating effects and toxic effects leading to impaired woun d healing have been reported, In order to study the direct effects of iodine on wound healing without interference of infectious pathogens, we investigated wound-healing parameters in noninfected experimental f ull-thickness wounds in the pig, Topical iodine treatment with an oint ment consisting of a combination of iodine and cadexomer (modified sta rch), was compared with cadexomer ointment, the vehicle without iodine , and with treatment with saline, Treatment lasted for 30 days, follow ed by 30 days of wound assessment, The rate of epithelialization, woun d contraction, systemic iodine absorption and several immunohistochemi cal markers were evaluated, All 36 wounds healed without macroscopic s igns of wound infection and reepithelialized within 21 days, During th e first 9 days of treatment, wounds treated with cadesomer-iodine oint ment showed significantly more epithelialization than the wounds treat ed with either cadexomer or saline, In addition, the epidermis of woun ds treated with cadexomer-iodine ointment had significantly more epith elial cell layers from day 12 to day 30, and these wounds stained for chondroitin sulphate proteoglycans in the newly formed basement membra ne zone, which was not observed with the other treatments, No negative effects of cadexomer-iodine ointment on the formation of granulation tissue, neovascularization or wound contraction were observed, During the treatment systemic iodine absorption was physiologically acceptabl e, These results showed that treatment with cadexomer-iodine-containin g ointment had positive effects on epidermal regeneration during the h ealing of full-thickness wounds in the pig compared with ointment alon e or saline treatment.