Early Changes during Skin Repair Using Tissue-Engineered Dermal Template in a Full-Thickness Burn

Gál, Peter; Fröhlichová, L.; Čoma, M.; Pafčuga, I.; Šuca, H.; Grossová, I.; Hríbiková, Z.; Sticová, E.; Zajíček, R.

doi:10.14712/fb2020066050161

Folia Biologica > Archive > 2020, Vol. 66 > Issue 5-6 > Early Changes during Skin Repair Using…

Fol. Biol. 2020, 66, 161-168

https://doi.org/10.14712/fb2020066050161

Early Changes during Skin Repair Using Tissue-Engineered Dermal Template in a Full-Thickness Burn

Peter Gál^1,2,3, L. Fröhlichová⁴, M. Čoma^1,5, I. Pafčuga³, H. Šuca³, I. Grossová³, Z. Hríbiková¹, E. Sticová^6,7, R. Zajíček³

¹Department of Biomedical Research, East-Slovak Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, Inc., Košice, Slovak Republic
²Laboratory of Cell Interactions, Center of Clinical and Preclinical Research MediPark, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Košice, Slovak Republic
³Prague Burn Centre, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and Faculty Hospital Královské Vinohrady, Prague, Czech Republic
⁴Department of Pathology, Louis Pasteur University Hospital, Košice, Slovak Republic
⁵Department of Pharmacology, Faculty of Medicine, Pavol Jozef Šafárik University, Košice, Slovak Republic
⁶Clinical and Transplant Pathology Department, Institute of Clinical and Experimental Medicine, Prague, Czech Republic
⁷Department of Pathology, Third Faculty of Medicine, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

Received September 2020
Accepted November 2020

Rapid wound closure in extensively burned patients has remained one of the major unresolved issues of medicine. Integra® is the most widely established artificial skin, which is composed of a porous matrix of cross-linked bovine collagen and chondroitin 6-sulphate covered by a semi-permeable silicone layer. We present here a (immuno)histological study of a severely burned patient with a full-thickness burn treated with a tissue-engineered dermal template (Integra®) and split-thickness skin graft-based protocol. Immunohistochemical investigation of the artificial dermis revealed that immune cell infiltration reached its peak on day 10. Tissue immunophenotyping found an increase in CD3⁺ cells over the course of the study as well as CD4 and CD8 positivity on day 40, indicating remaining T-cell subpopulations. We observed weak/no infiltration of NK cells (CD56⁺). In conclusion, the use of bi-layer Integra® represents a feasible and safe procedure resulting in formation of non-irritating dermal substitutes.

Keywords

wound healing, angiogenesis, artificial skin, tissue engineering, burn injury.

Funding

This study was supported by Charles University (PROGRES Q37) and project implementation: Medical University Science Park in Košice (MediPark, Košice - Phase II) ITMS2014+ 313011D103 supported by the Operational Programme Research & Innovations, funded by the ERDF.