Insulin Iontophoresis Mixed With Oleic Acid Versus Topical Insulin in Patients With Chronic Diabetic Foot Ulcer. Randomized Controlled Trial

Despite insulin treatment and a meticulously controlled diet, approximately 15% of all patients with diabetes will, at some time, have non-healing wounds and this is the leading cause of lower extremity amputation. Wound healing involves cell adhesion, migration, proliferation, differentiation, and apoptosis at cellular and molecular levels. Abnormalities of distinct factors of wound healing contribute to defective wound healing in diabetes ulcers, including decreased growth factor production, angiogenic response, macrophage function, collagen accumulation, epidermal barrier.

Insulin has great effect on ulcers healing and tissue regeneration but there is a catch that insulin is a large polymer that have difficulty crossing skin barrier but with using penetration enhancers like oleic acid combined with iontophoresis helps insulin to get through skin especially that affect locally on wound not systematic. Insulin help in restoring the function and structure of the vasculature and improving angiogenesis, reduces the local wound blood glucose concentration, thus reducing the damage resulting from the accumulation of high levels of glucose metabolic intermediates, insulin is the inhibitor of three major proinflammatory transcription factors: Nuclear factor-κB, activator protein-1 and early growth response-1 (EGR-1). insulin relieves the inflammatory response and prevents an excessive inflammatory reaction. Furthermore, insulin inhibits the degradation of immune cell proteins, thus enhancing immune activity. 45 patients with diabetic feet will be assigned randomly into 3 equal group; group A will receive insulin iontophoresis for 13 sessions, group B will receive topical insulin and group C will receive saline dressing for 13 weeks