Betaine combined with traditional Chinese medicine ointment to treat skin wounds in microbially infected diabetic mice.

Background: Skin wounds are highly common in diabetic patients, and with increasing types of pathogenic bacteria and antibiotic resistance, wounds and infections in diabetic patients are difficult to treat and heal.

Aim: To explore the effects of betaine ointment (BO) in promoting the healing of skin wounds and reducing the inflammation and apoptosis of skin cells in microbially infected diabetic mice.

Methods: By detecting the minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) of betaine and plant monomer components such as psoralen, we prepared BO with betaine as the main ingredient, blended it with traditional Chinese medicines such as gromwell root and psoralen, and evaluated its antibacterial effects and safety in vitro and in vivo. The skin infection wound models of ordinary mice and diabetic mice were constructed, and the OTC drugs mupirocin ointment and Zicao ointment were used as controls to evaluate the antibacterial effects in vivo and the anti-inflammatory and anti-apoptotic effects of BO.

Results: The MICs of betaine against microorganisms such as Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), Candida albicans and Cryptococcus neoformans ranged from 4 to 32 μg/mL. Gromwell root and psoralea, both of which contain antimicrobial components, mixed to prepare BO with MICs ranging from 16 to 64 μg/mL, which is 32-256 times lower than those of Zicao ointment, although the MIC is greater than that of betaine. After 15 days of treatment with BO for USA300-infected ordinary mice, the wound scab removal rates were 83.3%, while those of mupirocin ointment and Zicao ointment were 66.7% and 0%, respectively, and the differences were statistically significant. In diabetic mice, the wound scab removal rate of BO and mupirolacin ointment was 80.0%, but BO reduced wound inflammation and the apoptosis of skin cells and facilitated wound healing.

Conclusion: The ointment prepared by mixing betaine and traditional Chinese medicine can effectively inhibit common skin microorganisms and has a strong effect on the skin wounds of sensitive or drug-resistant S. aureus-infected ordinary mice and diabetic mice.