Topical use of sucralfate in epithelial wound healing: clinical evidences and molecular mechanisms of action.

Sucralfate is a basic aluminium salt of sucrose octasulphate which was orally employed for prevention and treatment of several gastrointestinal diseases including gastroesophageal reflux, gastric and duodenal ulcer. Recent studies have employed sucralfate as a topical drug for the healing of several types of epithelial wounds such as ulcers, inflammatory dermatitis, mucositis and burn wounds. Epithelial wound healing is a well orchestrated process involving hemostasis, inflammatory reaction, cell proliferation and tissue remodelling which leads to granulation tissue development and filling of the wound space. This report will review clinical evidences on the use of topical sucralfate for the management of epithelial lesions and deal with the current knowledge on the molecular mechanisms of action of this compound towards the epithelial wound healing process and will also discuss relevant patents.