Search

Objective: The objective of the study was to evaluate the healing effect of hyaluronic acid films on palatal wounds. Materials and Methods: After making 5‐mm diameter palatal wounds, 72 rats were randomly assigned to three groups: control, hyaluronic acid gel, and hyaluronic acid film. The animals were sacrificed at 3, 7, and 21 days after the experiment. Clinical, histological, and RT‐PCR analyses were performed. Human ex vivo oral mucosa models were used. Histological analysis and pan‐cytokeratin staining were performed at 5 days after wound creation. Results: In rat model, both gels and films showed favorable healing on Days 3 and 7 compared with healing in the control (p < 0.05). Film showed remarkable VEGF and α‐SMA expression than did the others (p < 0.05). Immunohistochemical analysis showed that film exhibited significantly lower CD68 and greater α‐SMA and vimentin expression levels than those in the others (p < 0.05). In human model, re‐epithelialization rate of film group was significantly higher than that of the others. Complete epithelial regeneration was confirmed only in film group using pan‐cytokeratin staining. Conclusions: Within the limits of this study, hyaluronic acid film outperformed gels in terms of palatal wound healing in both models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]