Review Article

The Role of Recombinant Proteins and Growth Factors in the Management of Diabetic Foot Ulcers: A Systematic Review of Randomized Controlled Trials

Table 2

Outcomes of RCTs that evaluated PDGF safety and effectiveness.

RefType of growth factorWound closureMean time to heal in treatment groupsMechanism mentioned as complete healingConfoundersFurther outcomes
Granulation tissueReepithelializationSexBaseline HbA1cWound sizeOffloadingRecurrence rateAmputation rate

[8]PDGF-Becaplermin®50%, 35%, and 36% of complete healing in 100 μg/g Becaplermin® gel and placebo and 30 μg/g Becaplermin® gel, respectively86 days for 100 μg/g Becaplermin® gel (decreased time by 32%)NMNMNMNNY(+)30% in all groupsNM
[9]rhPDGF-BB gel48% complete healing in the PDGF group compared with 25% in the placebo group 30 days in the PDGF and 40 days in the placebo group. NMNMNMNMNMNM26% in PDGF treated versus 46%NM
[10]Topical PDGF52% of healing in the test group versus 57% of healing in the control group (not significant)16 weeksNMYNMNY(-)Y(+)NM3 cases in total
[11]rhPDGF-BB gelAll ulcers in both groups had healed by the end of the study period days 41.8% reduction in healing time ()NMNMNMNMNY(+)NMNM
[12]PDGFPercentage of patients with complete wound contraction was significantly () higher in the PDGF group compared to the other groups6.75-7.6 weeks
Not significant
NMNMNMNMNNMNMNM
[13]PDGF18 (72%) ulcers had healed in the control group and 15 (60%) in the test group (). Three ulcers in the control group showed >75% reduction in size compared to 2 in the test group ().10 weeksNMNMNMNMNMNMNMNM
[14]PDGF gelA significantly higher () percentage of patients in the rhPDGF-based gel-treated group achieved complete healing46 days ()NMYNMNMY(-)NMNMNM
[15]PDGFThe rates of wound closure with TheraGauze and TheraGauze + Becaplermin® were 0.37 and 0.41 cm2/week, respectively ()12 weeksNMYNMNMNMNMNMN

PDGF: platelet-derived growth factor; Y: yes; N: no; NM: not mentioned.