Physicochemical parameters of NO-containing gas flow affect wound healing therapy. An experimental study.

Therapy of wounds and inflammatory diseases with NO-containing gas flows (NO-CGF) has proved to be effective in a longterm clinical practice. Plasma-chemical generation of nitric oxide occurs from atmospheric air in Plason device. For the purpose of modification and improvement of NO-therapy, effects of various physicochemical parameters of the NO-CGF on inflammatory and reparative processes in wounds were studied. Treatment of planar full-thickness skin wounds in laboratory rats was analyzed with morphological, immunohistochemical, morphometric and statistical methods. The study showed that the Plason device and the experimental device, which differs from Plason by the NO-CGF temperature, significantly reduce inflammatory and enhance regenerative processes in the wounds. The NO-CGF with an ambient temperature generated by the experimental device has noticeably facilitated the wound healing in direct ration to a nitric oxide content and flow velocity at the area of application. Temperature did not affect the course of wound healing process. The development of a new device for NO-therapy may be of use for both physicians and patients.

Study of plasma-chemical NO-containing gas flow for treatment of wounds and inflammatory processes.

This work is aimed at exhaustive and detailed study of chemical, physical and physico-chemical characteristics of NO-containing gas flow (NO-CGF) generated by a plasma-chemical generator of Plason device, which has been used in medical practice for more than 15 years for effectively healing wound and inflammatory conditions with exogenous nitric oxide (NO-therapy). Data was obtained on spatial structure of the gas flow, and values of its local parameters in axial and radial directions, such as nitric oxide content, velocity, temperature and mass flow density of nitric oxide, providing altogether the effectiveness of treatment by the exogenous NO-therapy method, were determined experimentally and by computations. It was demonstrated that plasma-chemical synthesis of NO from atmospheric air in a low direct current (DC) arc provides a high mass flow of nitric oxide at the level of 1.6-1.8 mg/s, while in the area of impact of NO-CGF on the biological tissue, on its axis, NO content is 400-600 ppm, flow velocity about 5 m/s, nitric oxide mass flow density 0.25-0.40 mg/(s·cm2), temperature 40-60 °C. Tendencies were determined for designing new devices for further experimental biological and medical research in the field of NO-therapy: lowering the temperature of NO-CGF to ambient temperature will enable variation, in experiments, of the affecting flow parameters in a wide range up to their maximum values: NO content up to 2000 ppm, velocity up to 20 m/s, nitric oxide mass flow density up to 2.5 mg/(s·cm2).