Objective To study the effect of various doses of estrogen on tissue injury, blood supply and survival area of skin flap and to investigate its mechanism. Methods Thirty New Zealand white rabbits aged 3-4 months old and weighing 1.5-2.2 kg (male or female) were used. Random pattern skin flap (12 cm × 3 cm in size) taking the central l ine of the rabbit dorsum as axis and with the pedicle attached at the proximal end was prepared, and the flap pedicle division was performed 7 days after operation. The rabbits were divided randomly into three groups (n=10 rabbits per group). At 2, 4, and 6 days after operation, the proximal edge of flap in group A and B received 100 ?g/kg and 50 ?g/kg subcutaneous injection ofestradiol benzoate, respectively, while group C received no further treatment serving as control group. General condition ofthe rabbits was observed after injection, gross observation was performed 3 and 7 days after injection, survival area of the skin flap was measured 7 days after injection, contents of malondialdehyde (MDA) and nitric oxide (NO) were tested 5 days after injection, and the flaps were harvested 4 and 7 days after injection to receive histology and no significant difference was noted between group A and group B (P gt; 0.05). The NEU counts 4 days after injection were (18.20 ±6.24) cells/HP in group A, (21.27 ± 5.34) cells/HP in group B, and (28.78 ± 7.92) cells/HP in group C, and at 7 days after injection, there were (15.16 ± 7.02) cells/HP in group A, (18.12 ± 6.44) cells/HP in group B, and (29.67 ± 9.12) cells/HP in group C. The VEGF score 4 days after injection was (4.02 ± 0.48) points in group A, (4.19 ± 0.66) points in group B and (3.67 ± 0.49) points in group C, and at 7 day after injection, it was (4.96 ± 0.69) points in group A, (5.12 ± 0.77) points in group B, and (3.81 ± 0.54) points in group C. Significant difference was evident between 4 days and 7 days after injection in group A or B in terms of NEU counts and VEGF score (P lt; 0.05), and difference between 4 days and 7 days after injection in group C was not significant (P gt; 0.05), and the differences among 3 groups were significant (P lt; 0.05). Conclusion Estrogen injection can increase VEGF expression and NO content of flap, decrease MDA content and NEU infiltration of flat, and improve survival area of flap.
