Neoangiogenesis of skin flaps in rats treated with copaiba oil

The aim of this work was to evaluate morphometric aspects of subdermic skin flap neoangiogenesis in rats treated with a 10% copaiba (Copaifera langsdorffii) oil ointment. The experiment design was a completely randomized, with three pharmacological resources. Ten replicates were used for each resource, and each animal was considered one experimental unit. Thirty Wistar rats were submitted to subdermic dorsal skin flap elevation and distributed into three groups: absolute control group, in which the animals did not receive any treatment; control group, in which the animals received topical treatment only with vehicle (glycerin and petroleum jelly), and treated group, in which the animals were treated daily with a 10% copaiba oil ointment. The rats were treated and observed for eight days after surgery. On the eighth day, the skin flap underwent a macroscopic analysis and fragments were collected from its cranial, medial and caudal portions for histopathological analysis. The morphometric analysis showed significant difference for proliferation of newly formed vessels in the middle and caudal portions of the skin flap in the treated group. Copaiba oil showed efficiency in the increase of neoangiogenesis of subdermic skin flaps in rats.