Background: The skin, being the largest organ of the body, serves as the initial defense barrier against environmental damaging agents. Wound healing in the skin is a complex, dynamic, and multi-stage process resulting from the coordinated interaction of cellular, molecular, and tissue mechanisms. Caffeine is one of the most widely consumed bioactive compounds globally and has recently garnered attention from researchers for its potential benefits in wound healing due to its anti-inflammatory, and analgesic properties.
Objective: Given the clinical importance of wound healing in both human and veterinary medicine, especially in surgical settings, it is vital to explore the effects of oral caffeine consumption on cutaneous wound healing. This investigation could contribute to developing more effective therapeutic strategies, particularly in light of caffeine's widespread consumption in everyday life.
Methods: The present study involved 30 rats divided into three groups: a control group and two groups receiving different doses of oral caffeine (20 mg/kg and 50 mg/kg body weight). After creating skin wounds on the dorsal region of the rats, half of the animals were euthanized on Day 10, and tissue samples from both the wound area and adjacent healthy tissue were collected for histopathological evaluation. The other half were monitored clinically for the wound healing process until Day 21. Histopathological evaluation focused on ten main indicators related to wound healing.
Results: Clinical evaluations indicated that wound edge contraction, granulation tissue formation, and wound closure were significantly more favorable in the high-dose caffeine group compared to the others. Histopathological analysis showed that granulation tissue formation and re-epithelialization were substantially higher in the group receiving 50 mg/kg of caffeine compared to the control group, although no significant differences were found for other indicators. Additionally, an increased presence of mast cells was observed in the group that received a higher dose of caffeine, which could lead to future studies on the role of these cells in wound healing.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that oral caffeine administration, especially at higher doses, may positively affect specific stages of cutaneous wound healing. Further studies are needed to elucidate the underlying mechanisms more precisely.