The protective effect of snail secretion filtrate in an experimental model of excisional wounds in mice

Wound healing is a physiological process comprising several coordinated phases, such as inflammation, proliferation, and remodeling. For centuries, Helix aspersa Muller mucus has been known to have biological properties that are useful for treating skin disorders. In this study, we used a full-thickness excisional wound model in mice to test the hypothesis that Snail Secretion Filtrate (SSF) can improve the wound healing process. The mucus from Helix aspersa Muller was obtained mechanically by manually stimulating snails with a sterile cotton swab tip, and then the mucus was subjected to a series of filtrations to obtain SSF. After wounding, the mice were treated topically with SSF for 14 days. Our macroscopic results show that the SSF treatment significantly improved the speed and percentage of wound area closure. Furthermore, SSF improved several markers of proper wound healing, such as collagen deposition (Masson, COL3A1, matrix metallo-proteinases (MMPs)) and the tissue remodeling process (α-sma, vascular-endothelial growth factor (VEGF)). SSF was also able to counteract the inflammatory process in injured wound tissue (myeloperoxidase (MPO) IL-1β, IL-6, TNF-α). In conclusion, our results show that SSF is able to en-hance the speed and efficiency of wound healing and positively regulate several aspects of the wound healing process, such as the proliferative and remodeling phases.