Blueberries could help treat hard to heal wounds

By Jim Leffman via SWNS

Hard to heal wounds could now be treated successfully thanks to blueberries, scientists claim.

The superfruit helps blood vessels grow and cells migrate, both processes central to wounds healing.

The team from the University of Maine treated wounds with a phenolic extract from wild blueberries, with promising results.

Phenols are compounds naturally found in some foods that act as antioxidants to prevent or reverse some forms of cell damage.

They say it could be particularly useful in helping to heal chronic wounds.

These include burns, diabetes-related sores and pressure ulcers, often categorized as nonhealing due to the reduced vascularization, or development of nutrient-rich blood vessels.

The researchers had previously shown that the extract improved vascularization and cell migration, critical steps in the healing process, in human umbilical cord cells.

Now their latest research on live wounds will be presented in Philadelphia at the American Physiological Society’s (APS) annual meeting at Experimental Biology 2022.

The research team found the extract induced a 12 percent improved increase in wound closure in rats.

They treated the group of rats with a topical gel containing a wild blueberry phenolic extract.

Compared to animals that were treated with a base gel that did not contain the phenolic extract and a control group that received no treatment, the treated group showed improved migration of endothelial cells to the wound site and a 12 percent increase in wound closure.

An estimated £39 billion pounds ($50 billion) worldwide is spent on wound care each year.

First author of the study, doctoral student Tolu Esther Adekeye said: "Wild blueberries have the potential to enhance cell migration, new blood vessel formation (angiogenesis) and vascularization and to speed up wound closure.

"This is especially important in conditions that require enhanced wound closure in patients with chronic wounds such as diabetic wounds, burns and pressure ulcers."

High in antioxidants, blueberries were the first fruit to be declared a superfruit.

They may prevent heart disease, can regulate sugar in the blood, improve vision and soothe stomach conditions.