CitatioN

Wound Healing Activity of Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) in Rats

 Abstract :

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a non-protein amino acid. It is well known for its role as an inhibitory neurotransmitter of developing and operating nervous systems in brains. In this study, a novel function of GABA in the healing process of cutaneous wounds was presented regarding anti-inflammation and fibroblast cell proliferation. The cell proliferation activity of GABA was verified through an MTT assay using murine fibroblast NIH3T3 cells. It was observed that GABA significantly inhibited the mRNA expression of iNOS, IL-1beta, and TNF-alpha, in LPS-stimulated RAW 264.7 cells. To evaluate in vivo activity of GABA in wound healing, excisional open wounds were made on the dorsal sides of Sprague-Dawley rats under anesthesia, and the healing of the wounds was apparently assessed. The molecular aspects of the healing process were also investigated by hematoxylineosin staining of the healed skin, displaying the degrees of reepithelialization and linear alignment of the granulation tissue, and immunostaining and RT-PCR analyses of fibroblast growth factor and platelet-derived growth factor, implying extracellular matrix synthesis and remodeling of the skin. The GABA treatment was effective to accelerate the healing process by suppressing inflammation and stimulating reepithelialization, compared with the epidermal growth factor treatment. The healing effect of GABA was remarkable at the early stage of wound healing, which resulted in significant reduction of the whole healing period.

Reference :

Dongoh, Han., Kim, Hee-Young., Lee, Hye-Jung., Shim, Insop. and Hahm, Dae-Hyun. (2007). Wound Healing Activity of Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid (GABA) in Rats. J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 2007, 17(10), 1661-1669.

Results/findings :

1. GABA stimulated the most of the cell proliferation activity in NIH3T3 cells from Swiss albino mouse embryo tissue by MTT assay.

            2. In NIH3T3 cells,  GABA inhibited the expression of primary inflammatory mediators for example TNF-α, IL-1β and the most was an iNOS using an LPS(lipopolysaccharide)-induced in vitro cell line.

             3. GABA reduced time healing on wound after 5^th day in adult male Sprague-Dawley(SD) and the result was similar to treating with EGF (epidermal growth factor).

             4. Not only treating with GABA found that wound skin had more fibroblast and collagenous fibers in dermis by histological analysis but also protein expressions of %FGF(fibroblast growth factor) and %PDGF(platelet-derived growth factor) were high in the immature fibroblasts of dermis and epithelial cells.

Citations: 

Dongoh et al. (2007) noted that GABA was trended to be a drug for promoting the wound healing effect especially in open wounds (1661-1669).

Dongoh et al. (2007) reported that GABA was many activities such as increasing cell proliferation activity in NIH3T3 cells,  decreasing time healing on wound in adult male rats and enriching fibroblast and collagen in dermis on wounds (1661-1669).