May 2003

From Journal of Clinical Investigation

Estrogen regulates key factor in wound healing

Estrogen regulates wound repair, and age-related estrogen loss in both men and women plays a major role in our impaired ability to heal as we grow older. In the May 1 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Gillian Ashcroft and colleagues at the University of Manchester reveal that estrogen exerts its healing effect by inhibiting the local inflammatory response via downregulation of macrophage inhibitory factor (MIF). These results reveal a specific target for therapeutic intervention in cases of delayed wound healing.

Cutaneous wound healing is associated with an initial inflammatory response followed by reformation of the outermost layer of the skin. During this initial response, recruitment of inflammatory cells to the wound site induces increased local expression of MIF, which in turn attracts more inflammatory cells to the site. Ashcroft and colleagues demonstrated that subsequent to small cutaneous incisions, estrogen-deficient mice experienced a local unchecked increase in MIF expression that resulted in excessive inflammation and delayed wound healing.

Furthermore, MIF-deficient mice in the absence of estrogen showed no significant differences in the rate of healing when compared with control mice.

The data implicate MIF as a crucial intermediary in uncontrolled inflammation and impaired healing, suggesting that impaired wound healing could be accelerated with therapeutics that inhibit MIF.

AUTHOR CONTACT:
Gillian S. Ashcroft
University of Manchester, School of Biological Sciences, Manchester, Great Britain
Phone: 44-161-275-5673
Fax: 44-161-275-3915
E-mail: [email protected]

View the PDF of this article at: https://www.the-jci.org/press/16288.pdf



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