Abstract:

Objective To investigate the effects of ultrasound ⁃ excited basic fibroblast growth factor （bFGF）nano⁃microbubble targeted therapy on keloids and phosphatase and tensin homolog deleted on chromosome ten（PTEN）/phosphatidylinositol 3⁃kinase（PI3K）/protein kinase B（Akt）pathway. Methods A nude mouse keloid model was constructed. The nude mice were divided into acontrol group，bFGF aqueous solution group，bFGF nano⁃ microbubble group，ultrasonic cavitation group，ultrasound plusbFGF aqueous solution group，and ultrasound plusbFGF nano⁃microbubble group. The survival status of nude mice and the growth of keloids were observed，and the volume and weight of keloids were measured. Blood was withdrawn the next day after the last administration， and serum levels of tumor necrosis factor α（TNF⁃α）and transforming growth factor⁃ β（TGF⁃β）in nude mice were detected；the morphology of keloids in nude mice was observed；the apoptosis in keloid tissue was detected； levels of protein caspase⁃3，α⁃SMA，collagen I，PTEN，PI3K，and Akt in keloid tissues were detected by Western blotting（WB）. Results The volume and weight of keloids，serum TNF⁃αand TGF⁃β levels，protein α⁃SMA， collagen I，PI3K，and Akt were lower in each bFGF treatment group thanin the control group，whilethe apoptosis count，protein caspase⁃3，andPTEN expression were higher（P < 0.05）. The volume and weight of keloids，serum TNF ⁃ αand TGF ⁃ β levels，protein α ⁃ SMA，collagen I，PI3K，and Akt were lower in the ultrasound plusbFGF aqueous solution group and ultrasoundplusbFGF nano⁃microbubble group than in the bFGF aqueous solution group and bFGF nano⁃microbubble group，but the apoptosis count，protein caspase⁃3，and PTEN expression were higher （P < 0.05）. Ultrasoundplus bFGF nano ⁃microbubbles was stronger than ultrasound plusbFGF aqueous solutioninsuppression of keloids（P < 0.05）. Conclusions Ultrasound ⁃ excitedbFGF nano ⁃microbubbles can inhibit the growthof keloids，which may be related to the activation of the PTEN/PI3K/Akt pathway.

Key words: ultrasound,  , basic fibroblast growth factor,  , nano?microbubbles,  , keloids