Promotion of wound healing by yeast glucan evaluated on single animals.

The effectiveness of yeast glucan in the acceleration of wound healing was evaluated in mice, rats and guinea pigs. In all experiments comparison between glucan treatment in one hind leg and saline treatment as control on the other leg was made on identical wounds. The degree of healing in the two legs was evaluated macroscopically and classified as follows: 1. healing more advanced in glucan treated wound marked by (+). 2. No significant difference between the two legs marked by (0). 3. Healing more advanced in the control wound, marked by (-). During the days when the differences were most obvious, 60% to 80% of the animals showed more advanced healing in the glucan treated wound, 20% to 40% showed no significant difference; and 0 to 15% showed more advanced healing in the control, saline treated wound. The average time for complete wound healing was reduced by about 18% as a result of glucan treatment. The histological analysis shows that the acceleration of wound healing was mediated by early arrival of macrophages to the wound area in the glucan treated wounds.