The effects of ovomacroglobulin on gingival wound healing in rats.

The effects of ovomacroglobulin (OMG), an alpha 2-macroglobulin-like protease inhibitor, were tested on periodontal surgical would healing in 60 Wistar rats. The animals were divided into two groups, one receiving topical application of 0.1% wt/wt OMG ointment and the other receiving ointment base (base). Rats were killed at one, three and seven days after surgery for histological and immunohistochemical observation. Compared with base group samples, OMG samples displayed enhanced capillary formation on anti-laminin-stained sections from day-3 specimens and a greater quantity of collagen fibers on Azan-Mallory-stained sections from day-7 specimens. Results were quantified using an automatic computerized pixel image analyzer. Hematoxylin-eosin-stained sections revealed that the length of regenerated junctional epithelium was shorter in the OMG group than in the base group. The data indicate that the application of OMG to surgical wounds accelerated fibroblast growth, collagen deposition, and capillary formation in granulation tissue. Thus, OMG could be a useful healing promoter for flap surgery.