Effects of Drone Brood Homogenate on Wound Healing: An Experimental Study on Rats.

Background: Wound healing is one of the most interesting topics in orthopaedic surgery, and there are many studies on the factors and mechanisms affecting this process.

Objectives: To evaluated the macroscopic and histopathological results of drone larvae homogenate (DLH) on wound healing in a full-thickness wound model.

Methods: Thirty male wistar rats (6-8 weeks, 250 ± 50 g) were used. A uniform circular full-thickness wound of approximately 18.44 ± 1.45 (control), 19.02 ± 1.24 (silverdin), 19.37 ± 1.28 (DLH) mm was excised on the back of each rat. They were divided into control (n: 10), silverdin (n: 10) and DLH (n: 10) groups. DLH, collected from the beehive for 3-7 days in late spring and ready for use after homogenization and lyophilization. Two mL of physiological saline, silver sulfadiazine 1% and DLH were applied to the control, silverdin and DLH groups, respectively, and a thin layer that completely covered the wound, and repeated every 2 days for all groups for 14 days. The condition of the lesions was observed every 2 days and the amount of contraction and granulation tissue formed in the lesion was recorded. The lesioned areas was examined histopathologically.

Results: There was no statistically significant difference in lymphocyte, fibroblast, scar thickness, polymorphonuclear leukocyte (PMNL), minivascular density (CD34) and transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) among the control, silverdin and DLH groups (p = 0.771, 0.434, 0.07, 0.396). The scar density of the DLH group was found to be higher than the control and silverdin groups (p = 0.003). The average wound diameter of the control group (6.87 ± 0.93 mm) on the 10th day was found to be higher than the silverdin (4.39 ± 1.15 mm) and DLH groups (4.16 ± 0.55 mm) (p = 0.0001).

Conclusions: DLH has a positive effect on wound healing, especially by ensuring early wound contraction and wound scar formation.