Scientists in China found that recombinant bovine basic fibroblast growth factor (rbFGF) "decreased healing time and improved healing quality".

Open burn wounds can become infected with bacteria very easily, so the speed and quality of healing are important.

The hormone comes from cows but is grown in laboratories for medical use.

It makes structural cells, such as muscle and skin, grow and is similar to a hormone that occurs naturally in humans.

Types of burn

Dr Xiaobing Fu, of the wound healing unit at the 304th Hospital in Beijing, and colleagues published their results in The Lancet medical journal.

Previous research had shown that growth factors can accelerate healing.

Burns are classified in degrees, depending on their depth:

• First-degree burns do not penetrate below the top layer of skin, or epidermis and heal themselves easily;
• Second-degree burns penetrate into the next layer of skin, the dermis, and are subclassified as superficial or deep, depending on their severity;
• Third-degree burns penetrate right through the skin and leave it charred and leathery. A skin graft is required to repair the damage.

Dr Fu and colleagues studied 600 patients with superficial or deep second degree burns at 32 hospitals across China.

Assessment

Patients had either a high concentration of rbFGF or a placebo applied to their skin every day.

The researchers assessed and photographed the wounds daily.

On the third and seventh days of treatment, tissue samples were taken and analysed.

Wounds treated with rbFGF healed in an average of 9.9 days for superficial burns and 12.5 days for second-degree burns, compared with 17.0 days and 21.2 days respectively for those on placebo.

There was also better healing quality in the rbFGF patients, in which the epidermis and dermis were almost completely regenerated.

The researchers had been concerned that the treatment might have side-effects causing scarring or damage to the liver or kidneys.

However, they found no evidence of this in their subjects.