The study appears in a recent issue of the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine.
''The skin treated with grape-seed extract was further along in the healing process compared to the saline-treated tissue. ''The extract-treated skin showed signs of healing faster and the newly formed tissue was denser, meaning that its structure was stronger.''
The researchers saw increased levels of tenascin, a protein that helps build connective tissue, in the granulation tissue of the wounds treated with GSPE. Granulation tissue is the rough, pinkish tissue that normally forms as a wound heals. It contains new capillaries and connective tissue.
The researchers also noted increased levels of VEGF, the compound that helps the body rebuild blood vessels. In previous research found that GSPE helped turn on the gene responsible for initiating the making of VEGF.
In a related experiment, the researchers also treated human skin cells with GSPE, finding that the extract helped the laboratory-grown cells produce more VEGF.
More VEGF means blood vessels will form faster and that more nutrients will be carried by the blood to regenerate damaged tissue.
In addition to helping blood vessels regenerate, GSPE also seemed to increase free radical levels at the wound site. It may seem odd that an antioxidant could help oxidation - the formation of free radicals - flourish. But
Skin wounds are rich in free radicals. ''There was a longer-lasting free radical effect in the wounds that had been treated with grape-seed extract. Partly why these wounds healed faster and better.''
While grape-seed extract is good news for wounded tissue. And consumers shouldn’t expect to get the same wound-healing benefits from taking grape-seed extract in vitamin form.
''Taken orally, the extract functions like an antioxidant. ''But in a wound, where free radicals are abundant, that proanthocyanidin assumes pro-oxidant behavior.
