Homologous fibronectin enhances healing of excised wounds in rats.

In order to evaluate the effects of a topical application of homologous fibronectin on the healing of skin wounds, we made 2 excisional wounds on the back skin of each rat, applied ointment with or without fibronectin purified from citrated homologous plasma, and evaluated the effect according to wound size and microscopic findings. Excised lesions treated with carrier alone, but the difference was significant only in the early phase of wound healing, 2 and 3 days, according to wound size and microscopic changes. A significant decrease in wound size could be found in both groups, treated with ointment containing and not containing fibronectin, between day 4 and 9 when wound contraction was a major contributor to wound closure. Therefore it can be concluded that topical application of fibronectin has a beneficial effect on wound healing during its early phase, but no significant influence on wound contraction.