(LR-030) Pilot investigation into effect of an antimicrobial dressing on the cell migration effects of decellularized porcine placental matrix in viable wounded human skin ex vivo
Thursday, May 16, 2024
7:30 PM – 8:30 PM East Coast USA Time
Rocio Burgos Amador, DPharm – Research Advisor, Advanced Wound Care R&D, Convatec Ltd; Leyla Zilic, PhD – Research Advisor, Advanced Wound Care R&D, Convatec Ltd; Daniel Metcalf, PhD – Director, Advanced Wound Care R&D, Convatec Ltd
Introduction: Decellularized extracellular matrix (ECM) medical devices can facilitate healing of hard-to-heal wounds by acting as a scaffold that contains collagen, fibronectin, laminin, elastin, hyaluronic acid, and glycosaminoglycans1, while being largely free of cells, cell debris, and DNA. However, as hard-to-heal wounds are often compromised by microbial bioburden, so the use of an antimicrobial dressing over ECM devices may be desired. The effects of novel porcine placental decellularized ECM product* covered with an advanced antimicrobial wound dressing† on cell migration in a wounded human skin in a viable ex vivo model was examined in a pilot study using immunolabeling techniques.
Methods: Human skin models were treated with the ECM product alone or a combined construct containing the ECM product with an antimicrobial dressing and a nonadhesive wound contact layer‡ between them. Construct-treated, ECM only-treated, and untreated control skin samples were incubated for up to 6 days. Skin samples were fixed and embedded before performing cross sections. An immunolabelling technique was used to assess cell migration by visualize the binding of a Cytokeratin 17 antibody to the tissue. Cytokeratin 17 was selected as a marker for wound healing as it is associated with cellular migration.
Results: There was an increase in the presence of Cytokeratin 17 in construct-treated and ECM-treated samples wounded skin tissues compared to the untreated control. These findings suggest that the wound healing potential of the porcine placental decellularized ECM device is not impacted by the presence of an advanced antimicrobial dressing.
Discussion: This ex vivo pilot study suggests that the antimicrobial and physical properties of a silver-containing antimicrobial dressing, when applied over a nonadherent layer, does not affect the ability of a porcine placental decellularized ECM device to encourage cell migration in a wounded human skin model. Further studies in similarly complex models using a range of microscopic and immunological techniques may help to confirm these pilot findings.