The Effect of Captopril on Impaired Wound Healing in Experimental Diabetes

We aimed to investigate whether oral administration of captopril modulate wound healing, nitric oxide (NO), and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) concentration in wound fluid of diabetic rats. 48 male Sprague-Dawley rats were divided in four groups (n = 12). The 36 rats were rendered diabetic by streptozotocin. The animals of the first and second groups received 25 and 50 mg/kg/day captopril, respectively, (DM-cap25 and DM-cap50). The animals of the third group were treated by distilled water (DM-control). Control rats had no intervention. The wound fluid level of NO and VEGF were measured. Wound specimens were investigated histopathologically. At the 5th day, there was significantly more NO(x) in wound fluid of DM-cap25 compared to other groups. At the 7th day, both captopril-treated groups had more NO(x) in wound fluid compared to other groups. At the 11th day, both captopril-treated groups had more NO(x) in wound fluid compared to DM-control group. VEGF concentration was significantly higher in both captopril-treated groups versus DM-control group (P < .05). There were significant higher wound healing scores in captopril-treated groups compared with DM-control group (P < .05). These results suggest that captopril might be useful in diabetic wound healing.