Article
Wound fluid of human finger tip amputation injuries stimulates migration of regenerative stem cells and attenuates fibroblasts
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Published: | September 10, 2013 |
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Objective: Fingertip amputation injuries with soft-tissue defects are common injuries in hand surgery. A painless alternative to surgical treatment in certain indications is the use of semi-occlusive dressings, which allows a near epimorphic regeneration. The mechanisms for this outstanding phenomenon are not well understood. We hypothesized that the wound fluid (WF) may change the activity of the cells which participate in the regeneration.
Methods: WF was harvested from patients treated with semi-occlusive dressings after finger amputation injuries. We studied the response of human mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and fibroblasts to WF in a standardized wound healing, cell metabolism and chemotaxis assay.
Results: WF significantly blocked the ability of fibroblasts to close the wound (control 94%±2% vs. WF 77%±5; p
Conclusions: Our study suggests that the micro-environment present under semi-occlusive dressings after amputation injuries attenuates the motility of possibly scar-forming fibroblasts while it activates regenerative MSCs. This may in part explain the near scarless healing in this type of injuries.