The effect of various concentrations of human recombinant epidermal growth factor on split‐thickness skin wounds

Abstract

Epidermal growth factor (EGF) is a potent stimulant of epithelialisation. However, topical application of EGF to achieve facilitated re‐epithelialisation in partial thickness wounds has been controversial. A total of 10 pigs, each with eight 4 × 4 cm partial thickness wounds, were treated twice a day for 10 days to observe the effect of human recombinant EGF in concentrations of 0·1, 1, 5, 10, 25 ug/g, vehicle only and two controls. The control and the vehicle‐only wounds each demonstrated 100% healing time (HT 100 ) of 9·31 ± 1·34 and 8·5 ± 1·12 while the wounds treated with EGF ointment with concentrations of 0·1 (HT 100 = 6·4 ± 0·71), 1 (HT 100 = 5·2 ± 0·63), 5 (HT 100 = 5·8 ± 0·85), 10 (HT 100 = 7·1 ± 1·45) and 25 ug/g (HT 100 = 7·4 ± 0·57) demonstrated significant reduction in time to achieve re‐epithelialisation. Among the EGF‐treated wounds, the wounds treated with EGF concentrations of 1 and 5 ug/g achieved the fastest re‐epithelialisation with evidence of substantial increase in basal keratinocyte activity observed through Ki‐67 activity. In conclusion, this article demonstrates the efficacy of human recombinant EGF in facilitating re‐epithelialisation of partial thickness wounds with the most efficient healing found in EGF concentrations of 1 and 5 ug/g.