Improving the Healing Rate of Diabetic Wounds by Applying Dielectric Barrier Discharge: An Applied Study in Male Mice

Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP) in the air has been applied to improve the rate of diabetic wound healing in streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic mice. The mice were classified into control and diabetic. Two experimental diabetic groups were treated with CAP; one was treated with CAP once per day for 10 sec and the other for 20 sec for 15 consecutive days. The rate of wound healing in diabetic mice treated for 10 sec was higher than that for 20 sec and the control. Histological and immunohistochemistry analyses of control and plasma-treated for 10 sec revealed epidermal and dermal reformation and improvement of inflammation earlier than both the diabetic and the treated diabetic for 20 sec. Concomitantly, tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFa) and connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) were relatively similar in the control and the 10 sec-treated groups compared with the diabetic one. Our study confirmed the efficacy of CAP as a plasma therapeutic medical strategy in improving diabetic wound healing via controlling the diabetic-associated inflammatory response.