Fol. Biol. 2020, 66, 161-168
Early Changes during Skin Repair Using Tissue-Engineered Dermal Template in a Full-Thickness Burn
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.
References
Copyright
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License.