The effect of continuous diffusion of oxygen treatment on cytokines, perfusion, bacterial load, and healing in patients with diabetic foot ulcers

To evaluate continuous diffusion of oxygen therapy (CDO) on cytokines, perfusion, and bacterial load in diabetic foot ulcers we evaluated 23 patients for 3 weeks. Tissues biopsies were obtained at each visit to evaluate cytokines and quantitative bacterial cultures. Perfusion was measured with hyperspectral imaging and transcutaneous oxygen. We used paired T tests to compare continuous variables and independent T tests to compare healers and nonhealers. There was an increase from baseline to week 1 in TGF-β (P = .008), TNF-α (P = .014), VEGF (P = .008), PDGF (P = .087), and IGF-1 (P = .058); baseline to week 2 in TGF-β (P = .010), VEGF (P = .051), and IL-6 (P = .031); and baseline to week 3 with TGF-β (P = .055) and IL-6 (P = .054). There was a significant increase in transcutaneous oxygen after 1 week of treatment on both medial and lateral foot (P = .086 and .025). Fifty-three percent of the patients had at least a 50% wound area reduction (healers). At baseline, there were no differences in cytokines between healers and nonhealers. However, there was an increase in CXCL8 after 1 week of treatment (P = .080) and IL-6 after 3 weeks of treatment in nonhealers (P = .099). There were no differences in quantitative cultures in healers and nonhealers.