Wound healing in normal and diabetic Chinese hamsters.

Wound healing was examined in normal and diabetic, non ketotic Chinese hamsters by morphological and morphometric methods. Dermal, perforating wounds were made in the ears of the hamsters and the response to injury was evaluated in tissue biopsies. The response in normal hamsters was characterized by vascular and cellular migration and pronounced infiltration of polymorphonuclear leukocytes into the area closest to the wound (zone 1). The transition region (zone 2) between wounded and non-wounded tissue was infiltrated primarily by fibroblasts and capillaries. In wounds from diabetic hamsters, 8 h after injury, there was less cellular infiltration (fibroblasts 49%, polymorphonuclear leukocytes 48% of control) and vascular proliferation (47% of control). In the late phase of healing (16 h after injury) the vascular (87% of control) and polymorphonuclear leukocyte (103%) responses in diabetic wounds were not significantly different from control in zones 1 and 2. Wounds from diabetic hamsters also showed considerable oedema (143% of control) in zones 1 and 2, which was accompanied by vascular degeneration and necrosis. At 16 h the collagen content of diabetic wounds was also decreased (54% of control). Increased oedema with reduced vascular proliferation and cellular infiltration in the early healing period characterises the response to injury in the diabetic Chinese hamster.