Infrared Spectroscopy for Tracking Changes in Proteins Secondary Structure and Lipids During Wound Healing Process of Diabetic Mice After Treated by a Cold Atmospheric Plasma Jet

The attenuated total reflection Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy attenuated total reflection-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (ATR-FT-IR) detection was used to investigate the mechanisms of cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) treatment in wound healing. The peaks of ester carbonyl and
$\alpha $
-helix in proteins, serving as the spectral fingerprints in the original infrared spectra and their second derivative spectra, of the wound samples were analyzed. The experimental results showed that the CAP treatment resulted in the reduction of the ester carbonyl contents, and the increase of the contents of
$\alpha $
-helix in the proteins. This indicates that the CAP treatment accelerated the lipid metabolism to provide required energy for the protein production, which was also supported by the fact that the fibrin deposition in the wounds was more obvious in the plasma group than that in the control group.