Patchouli alcohol improves wound healing in high fat diet-fed mice through AMPK-mediated suppression of inflammation and TGFb1 signaling

Obesity impairs wound healing with substantial alterations in skin inflammation. Patchouli alcohol (PA), extracted from patchouli, has been reported to ameliorate inflammation in various cell types. However, the effects of PA on inflammation and wound healing have not been reported to date. In the present study, we examined whether PA affects cutaneous wound healing in high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice and explored PA-mediated molecular mechanisms through in vitro experiments. We found that PA administration accelerated wound healing as well as ameliorates inflammation in skin of HFD-fed mice. PA treatment augmented AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) phosphorylation and TGFb1 expression. PA enhanced cell migration and suppressed inflammation in LPS-treated HaCaT cells. Further, PA increased dose-dependently AMPK phosphorylation as along with TGFb1 and cell migration markers expression. siRNA for AMPK or TGFb1 abrogated the effects of PA on cell migration and inflammation. TGFb1 siRNA mitigated PA-induced expression of cell migration markers. These results suggest that PA ameliorates wound healing via AMPK and TGFb1-mediated suppression of inflammation. In sum, PA can be used as a novel treatment strategy for wound healing in obesity or insulin resistance.