Back to the Future: From Appendage Development Toward Future Human Hair Follicle Neogenesis.

Hair disorders such as alopecia and hirsutism often impact the social and psychological well-being of an individual. This also holds true for patients with severe burns who have lost their hair follicles (HFs). HFs stimulate proper wound healing and prevent scar formation; thus, HF research can benefit numerous patients.

Review: Lessons Learned From Clinical Trials Using Antimicrobial Peptides (AMPs).

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) or host defense peptides protect the host against various pathogens such as yeast, fungi, viruses and bacteria. AMPs also display immunomodulatory properties ranging from the modulation of inflammatory responses to the promotion of wound healing. More interestingly, AMPs cause cell disruption through non-specific interactions with the membrane surface of pathogens.

Persistent Systemic Inflammation in Patients With Severe Burn Injury Is Accompanied by Influx of Immature Neutrophils and Shifts in T Cell Subsets and Cytokine Profiles.

Severe burn injury causes local and systemic immune responses that can persist up to months, and can lead to systemic inflammatory response syndrome, organ damage and long-term sequalae such as hypertrophic scarring. To prevent these pathological conditions, a better understanding of the underlying mechanisms is essential. In this longitudinal study, we analyzed the temporal peripheral blood immune profile of 20 burn wound patients admitted to the intensive care by flow cytometry and secretome profiling, and compared this to data from 20 healthy subjects.

Silver Sulfadiazine Cream Treatment Results in More Wound Contraction and More Itch in a Standardized Porcine Scald Model.

A variety of dressings is available for the treatment of partial-thickness wounds, but none has strong evidence supporting their beneficial effect on healing. This may be due to variation in the type and depth of wounds in clinical studies. The aim of this study was to use a standardized porcine wound model to compare three dressings commonly used in burn centers for partial-thickness burns.

Safety and bactericidal efficacy of cold atmospheric plasma generated by a flexible surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge device against Pseudomonas aeruginosa in vitro and in vivo.

Background: Cold atmospheric plasma (CAP), which is ionized gas produced at atmospheric pressure, could be a novel and potent antimicrobial therapy for the treatment of infected wounds. Previously we have shown that CAP generated with a flexible surface Dielectric Barrier Discharge (sDBD) is highly effective against bacteria in vitro and in ex vivo burn wound models. In the current paper, we determined the in vitro and in vivo safety and efficacy of CAP generated by this sDBD device.

C1 Inhibitor Administration Reduces Local Inflammation and Capillary Leakage, Without Affecting Long-term Wound Healing Parameters, in a Pig Burn Wound Model.

Background: Burns induce a boost in local and systemic complement levels as well as immune cell infiltration in the burn wound, which may negatively affect wound healing.

Objective: In this study, the effects of long-term treatment with complement inhibitor C1 esterase inhibitor (C1inh) on post-burn inflammation and wound healing parameters were analyzed in time up to 60 days post-burn.

Methods: Burned pigs were treated either with or without C1inh up to 15 days post-burn.

SPS-neutralization in tissue samples for efficacy testing of antimicrobial peptides.

Background: Accurate determination of the efficacy of antimicrobial agents requires neutralization of residual antimicrobial activity in the samples before microbiological assessment of the number of surviving bacteria. Sodium polyanethol sulfonate (SPS) is a known neutralizer for the antimicrobial activity of aminoglycosides and polymyxins. In this study, we evaluated the ability of SPS to neutralize residual antimicrobial activity of antimicrobial peptides [SAAP-148 and pexiganan; 1% (wt/v) in PBS], antibiotics [mupirocin (Bactroban) and fusidic acid (Fucidin) in ointments; 2% (wt/wt))] and disinfectants [2% (wt/wt) silver sulfadiazine cream (SSD) and 0.

Potential factors contributing to the poor antimicrobial efficacy of SAAP-148 in a rat wound infection model.

Background: We investigated the efficacy of a synthetic antimicrobial peptide SAAP-148, which was shown to be effective against Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) on tape-stripped mice skin. Unexpectedly, SAAP-148 was not effective against MRSA in our pilot study using rats with excision wounds. Therefore, we investigated factors that might have contributed to the poor efficacy of SAAP-148.

NOX2 Expression Is Increased in Keratinocytes After Burn Injury.

Reepithelialization is crucial for effective wound repair in burn wounds. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) have shown to be important in this. Recent studies suggest that NOX proteins produce ROS in keratinocytes.

Early intervention by Captopril does not improve wound healing of partial thickness burn wounds in a rat model.

The Renin Angiotensin System is involved in fibrotic pathologies in various organs such as heart, kidney and liver. Inhibition of this system by angiotensin converting enzyme antagonists, such as Captopril, has been shown beneficial effects on these pathologies. Captopril reduced the inflammatory reaction but also directly influenced the fibrotic process.

Neutrophil extracellular traps coincide with a pro-coagulant status of microcirculatory endothelium in burn wounds.

Burn-induced tissue loss is partly related to secondary expansion of necrosis into vital dermis neighboring the initial burn injury. An important factor herein is the severe loss of perfusion of the burn wound, probably caused by microvascular damage induced by the intense local inflammatory responses as well as burn-induced hypercoagulation. We hypothesize that the formation of neutrophilic extracellular traps (NETs) play an important role in this.

Differential effects of Losartan and Atorvastatin in partial and full thickness burn wounds.

Healing of burn wounds is often associated with scar formation due to excessive inflammation and delayed wound closure. To date, no effective treatment is available to prevent the fibrotic process. The Renin Angiotensin System (RAS) was shown to be involved in fibrosis in various organs.

The Local and Systemic Inflammatory Response in a Pig Burn Wound Model With a Pivotal Role for Complement.

In patients with burns, a massive inflammatory response is induced which negatively affects the healing process of the burn wound and additionally exerts systemic effects. An important factor herein is the complement system. Here we analyzed the effects of burns on complement and inflammatory cells both locally and systemically after burn in time in a pig burn wound model.

The role of complement in the acute phase response after burns.

Severe burns induce a complex systemic inflammatory response characterized by a typical prolonged acute phase response (APR) that starts approximately 4-8h after-burn and persists for months up to a year after the initial burn trauma. During this APR, acute phase proteins (APPs), including C-reactive protein (CRP) and complement (e.g.

Inhibited early immunologic response is associated with hypertrophic scarring.

This study aimed to examine changes in the inflammatory response in early hypertrophic compared to normal wound healing. The immune system is thought to be involved in hypertrophic scar formation. However, the exact mechanism and time of onset of the derailment remain unknown.

Healthy human second-trimester fetal skin is deficient in leukocytes and associated homing chemokines.

The lack of immune cells in mid-gestational fetal skin is often mentioned as a key factor underlying scarless healing. However, the scarless healing ability is conserved until long after the immune system in the fetus is fully developed. Therefore, we studied human second-trimester fetal skin and compared the numbers of immune cells and chemokine levels from fetal skin with adult skin.

Outcome of Burns Treated With Autologous Cultured Proliferating Epidermal Cells: A Prospective Randomized Multicenter Intrapatient Comparative Trial.

Standard treatment for large burns is transplantation with meshed split skin autografts (SSGs). A disadvantage of this treatment is that healing is accompanied by scar formation. Application of autologous epidermal cells (keratinocytes and melanocytes) may be a suitable therapeutic alternative, since this may enhance wound closure and improve scar quality.

The number of immune cells is lower in healthy oral mucosa compared to skin and does not increase after scarring.

Objective: Depending on the location of injury, wounds can heal with different outcomes. In addition foetal wounds heal fast without scar formation, while scars are a common feature of regular skin repair. Since inflammation is very limited in these wounds reduced numbers or even absence of immune cells might be responsible for scarless foetal wound healing.

A new method to determine wound age in early vital skin injuries: a probability scoring system using expression levels of Fibronectin, CD62p and Factor VIII in wound hemorrhage.

Purpose Of The Study: In forensic autopsies it is important to determine the age of early vital skin wounds as accurate as possible. In addition to inflammation, coagulation is also induced in vital wounds. Analysis of blood coagulation markers in wound hemorrhage could therefore be an important additional discriminating factor in wound age determination.

Progress towards cell-based burn wound treatments.

Cell therapy as part of the concept of regenerative medicine represents an upcoming platform technology. Although cultured epidermal cells have been used in burn treatment for decades, new developments have renewed the interest in this type of treatment. Whereas early results were hampered by long culture times in order to produce confluent sheets of keratinocytes, undifferentiated proliferating cells can nowadays be applied on burns with different application techniques.

Dectin-1 activation induces proliferation and migration of human keratinocytes enhancing wound re-epithelialization.

Beta-glucans in temporary wound dressings have immuno-stimulatory capacities and have been shown to enhance wound healing in burn patients. Curdlan is a 1,3-linked bacterial/fungal derived beta-glucan that induces inflammatory responses via the C-type lectin receptor dectin-1 on dendritic cells (DCs). Here we investigated the effect of beta-glucan curdlan and the role of dectin-1 expressed by keratinocytes (KCs) in wound healing.

Effect of pore size and cross-linking of a novel collagen-elastin dermal substitute on wound healing.

Collagen-elastin (CE) scaffolds are frequently used for dermal replacement in the treatment of full-thickness skin defects such as burn wounds. But little is known about the optimal pore size and level of cross-linking. Different formulations of dermal substitutes with unidirectional pores were tested in porcine full-thickness wounds in combination with autologous split skin mesh grafts (SSG).