Development of structured lipids for topical application in wounds

• Grant number: 09/02296-9
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Post-Doctoral
• Start date: October 01, 2009
• End date: June 30, 2011
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Pharmacy
• Principal Investigator: Luiz Antonio Gioielli
• Grantee: Juliana Neves Rodrigues Ract
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Ciências Farmacêuticas (FCF). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

Recently essential fatty acids have been used to treat skin lesions of difficult healing, with or without infection, yielding success. It is believed that these fatty acids act as accelerators of the wound healing process, acting as chemoattractant agents, stimulating angiogenesis and fibroplasia and moisturizing the wound. However, no records of studies on the topical application of structured lipids used for wound treatment were found and therefore the influence of the fatty acid (FA) distribution in the triacylglycerol (TAG) chain over the way they are metabolized and the consequent biological effects are not well known. This work aims to develop structured lipids rich in É-6 and É-3 FA for topical application in wounds and evaluate their effects over the tissue repair process, compared with the effects of the original blends. For this purpose, low cost and accessible vegetable oils from canola, sunflower and flaxseed will be blended in different proportions and structured lipids will be produced through enzymatic synthesis. The confirmation of lipid restructuring and the characterization of the structured lipids will be realized by determining the FA composition and FA positional distribution, TAG composition and crystallization and melting behavior of the lipids. Finally, animal experiments which include macroscopic analysis of scar tissue formation and determination of cytokines in tissues will be performed at different stages of the wound healing process. Knowledge of the effects of structured lipids on different stages of tissue repair may contribute to the development of new therapeutic agents. (AU)