Regulation of wound healing by the herbal medicine "Cattail Pollen" and its possibility for skin regeneration.

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 18K10996
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Section: 一般
• Review Section: Basic Section 59040:Nutrition science and health science-related
• Research Institution: Aomori University of Health and Welfare
• Principal Investigator: Kon Atsushi 青森県立保健大学, 健康科学部, 教授 (60271798)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): 井澤 弘美 青森県立保健大学, 健康科学部, 准教授 (20315534) ; 乗鞍 敏夫 青森県立保健大学, 健康科学部, 准教授 (40468111)
• Project Period (FY): 2018-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 蒲黄 / 創傷治癒 / 古事記 / 皮膚 / 蒲

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The herbal medicine "Cattail Pollen" continues to be used as a folk medicine for wound healing of the skin, but its scientific verification has not been investigated at all. In this study, we verified the existence or absence of the wound healing promoting effect of Cattail Pollen and analyzed its molecular mechanism. As a result, when extract of Cattail Pollen was added to dermal fibroblasts, the　migration and adhesion of the cells were promoted, indicating that Cattail Pollen promote wound healing of the skin at the culture level. Next, we analyzed how the expression of genes/proteins that control wound healing changes mediated by Cattail Pollen. As a result, the expression of type I collagen, which causes scar formation, was markedly suppressed at the transcriptional level, and the expression of decorin, which suppresses scarring formation, was promoted. Therefore, these results suggest that Cattail Pollen may promote skin regeneration without scar formation.

Free Research Field

皮膚科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

哺乳類の臓器は損傷を受ける瘢痕を残して創傷治癒する。瘢痕はコラーゲンの過剰沈着による線維化であり，その部の機能は永久に失われる。しか，瘢痕を消失させ，再生させる医薬は存在しない。日本では，蒲黄が皮膚の傷薬として使用され続けているが，その科学的検証は行われていない。本研究によって，蒲黄は瘢痕形成を抑制し，皮膚を再生する可能性を見出した。従って，皮膚の再生医薬の初めての開発に貢献できる期待される。