Methods for promoting wound healing

Patent Number: 7,189,746

The stimulation of healing processes after injury involves a neurological component. The inventors of the patent clearly demonstrate through several prior art examples that wound repair requires innervation of the peripheral tissue, and that damage to the surrounding nerves results in inhibition of wound repair.

For example, the inventor describes a paper (Huang et al. Influence of cutaneous nerves on keratinocyte proliferation and epidermal thickness in mice. Neuroscience. 1999;94(3):965-73) in which the plantar surface of the hind foot was used as a means of assessing denervation in an animal model. 72 hours after the sciatic nerve was severed the epidermis began losing size, and the number of proliferating cells was reduced.

The inventor developed several immunophilin binding compounds which stimulate nerve regeneration. These compounds appear to be non-immunosuppressive analogues of FK506, a commonly used immune suppressant used to inhibit transplant rejection.

The patent covers use of these compounds to stimulate/accelerate wound healing.

View this patent on the USPTO website.