Wound healing effect of the new imidazole antimycotic lanoconazole in rats

The wound healing effect of cream preparations of lanoconazole (CAS 101530-10-3, NND-318), an antimycotic imidazole compound, was examined using an excisional open skin-wound model produced on the back of rats. The rapid decrease in the size of wounded areas showed that 0.5% and 1% lanoconazole creams accelerated spontaneous healing. The effectiveness was almost similar to that of an ointment containing 5% deproteinized calf blood extract (DCBE), a wound healing agent on the market. In contrast, neither 1% clotrimazole cream nor 1% bifonazole cream, both of which are imidazole antimycotics, showed an accelerative effect. The wound healing effect of lanoconazole was further confirmed by histological evaluation; a thicker and more cellular granulation tissue was formed, and epidermal regeneration was more stimulated by lanoconazole than by non-treatment or vehicle alone. The effect of lanoconazole on the formation of granulation tissue in rats was also studied using a cotton pellet implantation method. Lanoconazole accelerated the formation of this tissue in terms of dry weight in a dose dependent manner (0.5-4 mg/pellet), and collagen content and angiogenesis also increased in the stimulated tissue, indicating that these accompany the compound-induced acceleration of tissue formation. These results suggest that lanoconazole has a distinctive wound healing effect which is a feature no other imidazole antimycotic is known to possess to date.