Effects of Moist Exposed Burn Therapy and Ointment (MEBT/MEBO) on the autophagy mTOR signalling pathway in diabetic ulcer wounds
Authors: Huadan Ma
Na Zeng
Biaoliang Wu
Xianbin Liu
Zheng Li
Lin Wang
Aitian Zheng
Qing Huang
Journal: Pharmaceutical Biology (2020)
Discipline: PHARMACOLOGY & TOXICOLOGY
Keywords: Diabetes; PI3K–Akt–mTOR; fibroblasts; traditional Chinese medicine; wound healing rate.
Affiliations: Department of Endocrinology, The Affiliated Hospital of Youjiang Medical College for Nationalities, Baise, Guangxi, China

Abstract:  Context: Burn therapy (MEBT)/moist exposed burn ointment (MEBO) is an effective traditional Chinese medicine method to treat diabetic wound, but the mechanism is unclear. Autophagy has been proved to be closely related with wound healing, so MEBO/MEBT is hypothesized to promote diabetic wound healing by regulating autophagy.Objective: To explore the mechanism of moist exposed MEBT/MEBO promoting diabetic wound repair.Materials and methods: Eighty male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to control (n = 20) and diabetic group induced by intraperitoneal injection of STZ (n = 60), which were further randomly assigned to MEBO, Kangfuxin and model groups (n = 20 each). All rats underwent full-thickness skin resection in the back. Wound healing was dynamically observed and wound tissues were collected at five time points for pathological examination, autophagosome and the expression of PI3K, Akt and mTOR.Results: The healing time in the control group was the shortest, no statistically significant difference was found between the MEBO and the Kangfuxin group (p = 0.76). The morphology of autophagosomes ranged large to small, which was the most obvious in the MEBO group. The mRNA and protein expression of PI3K, Akt and mTOR in each group reached the peak on Day 5, the levels in the MEBO group were the highest (F = 18.43, 19.97, 15.36, p &lt; 0.05). On Day 11, the expression levels in each group began to decline.Discussion and conclusions: In this study, we discussed the molecular mechanism of MEBT/MEBO promoting the repair of diabetic ulcer wounds through autophagy and PI3K-Akt-mTOR signalling pathway, which provides a new way for drug design in the future. 

Retracted: No

PubPeer comments:
 Figure 5 contains a replication in Nrf2. Also there is a unexpected change in background in the blot on the siNTR control band for PPaR-alpha (see contrast enhancement) in Figure 7 are some bands that look unexpectedly similar to each other, with changes in contrast or vertically mirrored. ![file] , 
 Thanks for your comments. Reply to Q1: Indeed, the Figure 5B NTR3 band inadvertently replicated in the Figure 5A NTR3 band. This error has been raised by the Journalu2019s editor several weeks ago. We have submitted the raw data to apply for correcting the errors, which is still in process. Reply to Q2: About the Figure 5 and Figure 7, we did not do any modifications on the figure, they were really raw data, and there were no errors in the bands of PPARa in Figure 5 and two bands in Figure 7. In other words, we have no reason to modify it. If you needed, we can provide the raw data for clarification. , 
 2020 retraction. https: www.sciencedirect.com science article pii S2352396420303030?via%3Dihub The editors wish to retract this article after publication concerns were raised by a reader with respect to the Western blot data presented in Figure 5. These allegations were referred to the Office of Academic Ethics Committee at Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine for investigation. Experts of the Investigation group reported that blots had been manipulated and duplicated in Figure 5, and that this constituted research misconduct. Specifically, the NTR3 blots in Fig. 5A had been duplicated in the Ntr3 blots shown in Fig. 5B. The p-PPARu03b1 blots in Fig. 5B had been duplicated in the ASBT blots shown in Fig.5B, and the p-PPARu03b1 blot in Fig. 5A had been modified such that the grayscale of lanes 2-4 were artificially increased compared to the raw data image. The editors therefore no longer have confidence in the integrity of these data. ,