1,25‐Dihydroxyvitamin D 3 : A novel agent for enhancing wound healing

1,25‐Dihydroxyvitamin D 3 (1,25(OH) 2 D 3 ), has diverse effects in a variety of tissues and cell types, including skin. Since 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 affects both fibroblast and keratinocytes, we evalauated the effect of 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 or wound healing. We investigated the effect of the topically applied 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 or vehicle on the healing of cutaneous wounds in rats in a blinded manner. Wound areas were measured by planimetry technique. Healing was expressed as the percentage of the original wound area that was healed. 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 at concentrations between 5 and 50 ng/day caused a dose‐dependent acceleration of healing. Time course and specificity studies indicated that 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 specifically promoted healing between 1–5 days after wounding as compared with vitamin D (0.5 μg/day), which showed no significant improvement over control. Our results suggest that 1,25(OH) 2 D 3 and its analogues may be a new class of compounds that could be developed to enhance wound healing. © 1995 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.