Garlic may facilitate wound healing by increasing microvascular circulation

Garlic may facilitate wound healing by increasing microvascular circulation in patients of cardiovascular diseases, finds a study.

Garlic widely used as a flavouring agent in cooking, has also been used for medicinal purposes since ancient times.It has been found to have a beneficial effect in lowering cholesterol. Now, a recent study published in the International Wound Journal has found that aged garlic extract (AGE) is beneficial for patients with increased risk of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in which it may promote wound healing.

According to the study, 12 months of AGE supplement may improve and preserve microcirculation in such patients. The researchers noted that hypothetically, preserving or even increasing microvascular blood flow and cutaneous tissue perfusion may facilitate wound healing that would be beneficial for diabetes patients.

Framingham risk score is a risk-stratifying score system that estimates the risk of developing CVD. CVD risk factors are well known to enhance the development of atherosclerotic lesions in arteries, but also impairs tissue perfusion and microvascular circulation. Reduced microcirculation has been suggested to be an early CVD marker. Also, it is involved in impaired wound healing in diabetes patients.

• A repeated-measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) with a Greenhouse–Geisser correction determined that mean post‐occlusive reactive hyperaemia differed significantly between time points.


• The mean percent change between the two time points 0 and 12 months was 102, 64 (174, 15)% change for AGE and 78, 62 (107, 92)% change for the placebo group, 12 months of AGE increases the microcirculation in patients with an increased risk for cardiovascular events estimated using the Framingham risk score.


• Increased microcirculation could hypothetically facilitate wound healing.

"The present study demonstrates that 12 months of AGE supplement may preserve and even improve the microcirculation measured by non-invasive laser doppler velocimetry (LDV)," write the authors.

"The effect might be because of an inhibition of the atherosclerosis process, but also by potentially affecting vascular tone and endothelial function. Preserving or even increasing the microvascular blood flow and cutaneous tissue perfusion may hypothetically facilitate wound healing," they concluded.