Obesity impairs wound healing in ovariectomized female mice

Obesity is increasing worldwide. Estrogen protects female mice from gaining weight in contrast to ovariectomy. Excess weight can inhibit wound healing. We determine the effects of obesity on wound healing in the presence and absence of estrogen. For this purpose, we generated (ovariectomized (OVX) and non-ovariectomized (NOVX)) lean mice by feeding a 30% calorie-restricted diet (CR), overweight mice a low-fat (LF) diet and obese mice a high-fat (HF) diet. CR mice had the lowest, LF an intermediate, and HF mice the highest body weights. OVX exacerbated weight gain in female mice. Wounds healed fastest in CR mice regardless of estrogen status. Contrastingly, wound healing in OVX obese female mice was delayed. In sum, OVX increased the propensity of gaining weight, CR mice healed wounds more rapidly than obese mice irrespective of estrogen status, and obesity in the absence of estrogen impaired wound healing.