A major goal of burn management is to reduce the progression of necrosis in the zone of ischemia surrounding the central zone of necrosis. A rat comb burn model is often used to assess the progression of necrosis in the zone of ischemia. We compared various combinations of naproxen [NPX], N-acetyl cysteine [NAC], and tadalafil [TD] (a phosphodiesterase-5 inhibitor used as a vasodilator to treat erectile dysfunction) in a rat comb burn model to determine their effects on injury progression.We created two comb burns on the backs of 40 anesthetized Sprague-Dawley rats using a brass comb with four rectangular prongs preheated in boiling water and applied for 30s, resulting in four rectangular 10×20mm full-thickness burns separated by three 5×20mm unburned interspaces, representing the ischemic zones. We randomized five animals each to daily oral gavage with TD (1mg/kg), NPX (10mg/kg), NAC (500mg/kg), NAC+NPX, TD+NPX, TD+NAC, TD+NPX+NAC, or normal saline [NS]. Wounds were observed daily for gross evidence of necrosis in the unburned interspaces and full-thickness biopsies from the interspaces were evaluated with HematoxylinEosin seven days after injury for histological evidence of necrosis.The percentages of interspaces with histological evidence of necrosis at day seven were TD-40%, NPX-93%, NAC-97%, NS-87%, TD+NPX-50%, TD+NAC-40%, TD+NPX+NAC-33%, and NPX+NAC-60% (P0.001). Repeated measures ANOVA demonstrated reduced gross percentage of interspace area undergoing necrosis in all groups that included TD, compared with all groups not including TD (P0.001). There were no differences among the various treatments within the groups that did or did not include TD.Daily oral therapy with tadalafil reduces necrosis in the unburned interspaces compared with naproxen, NAC, or their combination in a rat comb burn model. Addition of naproxen or NAC to tadalafil does not further reduce injury progression.
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