Current Approaches in Healing of Wounds in Diabetes and Diabetic Foot Ulcers

Background: Diabetes is a chronic disease affecting more than 8.5 % adult population in the world. Among various issues caused by diabetes, wound healing is a major cause of concern. Objective: Injuries are most common, and can be caused normally by abrasion, laceration (cuts), injury, etc. But in diabetes, they do not heal so easily and cause problems. It can be due to a compromised immune system, neuropathy, poor circulation, infections etc., which could lead to amputation or even death. Current therapies for the treatment of wound healing in diabetic patients, have side effects of their own, as there is no particular drug for the healing of wounds. Methods: Numerous surveys in literature were carried out to reveal the obstacles in diabetic wound healing and current approaches to its management with emphasis on alternative therapies. Relevant peer-reviewed research publications were searched through various online bibliographic databases such as ScienceDirect, PubMed, Scopus, Google Scholar, and ResearchGate (all English-language articles). Results: Repurposed drugs include a class of statin, phenytoin, estrogen, and DPP4 inhibitors. Plants with wound healing activity include Rosmarinus officinalis, Radix Rehmannia, Carica papaya, Aloe vera, Catharanthus roseus, Punica granatum, etc. have been explored in pre-clinical studies. Besides these studies, a lot of other studies, including clinical trials, have been performed for wound healing in diabetes by using different procedures like Honey-dressing, Royal Jelly, Extracorporeal Shock wave therapy, Manuka honey-impregnated dressing, LeucoPatch system, etc. Conclusion: In this review, an approach was made to study wound healing in diabetes and various options that could be best suited for the treatment of wounds in diabetes.