Oral Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus PB01 Supplementation Enhances Early Wound Closure in Diabetic Rats

Impaired wound healing is a major complication of diabetes mellitus, characterized by delayed wound closure and prolonged inflammation. Current therapies focus largely on local wound management and do not address systemic factors contributing to defective repair. Probiotics have emerged as modulators of immune and metabolic pathways, but evidence for strain-specific, orally mediated effects on diabetic wound healing remains limited. This exploratory study investigated whether oral supplementation with Lacticaseibacillus rhamnosus PB01 influences wound healing in a streptozotocin-induced diabetic rat model. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were assigned to healthy control, diabetic control, or probiotic-treated diabetic groups. Diabetic rats received daily oral L. rhamnosus PB01 (1 × 10⁹ CFU) or saline. Full-thickness excisional wounds were created, and wound closure was assessed longitudinally using standardized digital planimetry. Histological evaluation and immunohistochemical staining for inflammation- and regeneration-associated markers were performed at defined time points. Probiotic supplementation did not alter systemic glycemic control but was associated with significantly improved wound closure during the early post-wounding period compared with untreated diabetic controls. At later stages, wound closure converged across groups. Probiotic-treated diabetic wounds exhibited qualitatively reduced inflammatory cell infiltration and lower pro-inflammatory cytokine staining, alongside altered transforming growth factor-β (TGF-β) expression patterns. These findings suggest that oral L. rhamnosus PB01 supplementation is associated with enhanced early wound closure in diabetic rats, independent of glycemic control, and support further mechanistic and translational investigation of strain-specific probiotic interventions for diabetic wound healing.