Human wounds heal three times longer than in primates – research
Kyiv • UNN
Japanese scientists have found that wounds in humans heal much slower than in other mammals, including chimpanzees. This may be due to the loss of body hair in the process of evolution.
Wounds in humans heal almost three times longer than injuries in other mammals, including chimpanzees, which are among our closest living relatives. This may be the result of an evolutionary adaptation associated with the loss of body hair. According to New Scientist, Japanese scientists have come to this conclusion, reports UNN.
Details
To find out how much slower wounds heal in humans compared to this process in primates, scientist Akiko Matsumoto-Oda from the University of Ryukyu (Japan) and her colleagues involved four species of mammals in the experiment. Velvet monkeys (Chlorocebus pygerythrus), Sykes' monkeys (Cercopithecus albogularis), olive baboons (Papio anubis) and chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) were chosen for the science work.
The researchers anesthetized five individuals of each primate species, shaved a small area of their hair, and created a round wound 40 millimeters in diameter, which they treated with antibiotic ointment and covered with gauze for a day to protect against infection.
Photos and measurements of the wounds, taken every few days, showed that they all healed at approximately 0.61 millimeters per day.
Next, Matsumoto-Oda and her colleagues examined 24 patients at Ryukyus University Hospital after skin tumor removal, finding that these wounds healed at a rate of only 0.25 millimeters per day.
The researchers also experimented on mice and rats and found almost the same healing rate as in primates. This suggests that there is an evolutionarily optimal healing rate for most mammals, but not for humans, says Matsumoto-Oda.
Most importantly, we found that chimpanzees showed the same rate of wound healing as other primates, meaning that the slowed wound healing seen in humans likely evolved from our common ancestor with chimpanzees
This may be due to how early humans adapted to hot conditions.
The slower rate of wound healing in humans may be related to evolutionary changes, such as a decrease in the amount of body hair. Higher hair density leads to an increase in the number of stem cells, which leads to faster healing, says Matsumoto-Oda.
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