ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Autologous cultured dermal fibroblasts can be transplanted to the full thickness of skin wounds and this successfully accelerates the early wound healing of epidermis and dermis with less inflammation and scarring than allogeneic transplantations. The wound-healing effect of dermal fibroblasts is thought to be due to their growth factor and extracellular matrix releasing effects. Fibroblasts could therefore help chronic wound healing, where lower concentration of growth factors have been observed. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to examine the early wound healing effects of the autologous cultured dermal fibroblasts and to confirm that several growth factors and fibroblasts are closely associated in the mechanism of wound healing. METHODS: Suspensions of cultured autologous dermal fibroblasts were transplanted to full thickness wounds in 15 guinea pigs, and the wounds were then covered with transparent membrane. Wound biopsy materials were excised and collected from 9 guinea pigs at 7, 14, 21 and 28 days after wounding. Comparisons of the clinical wound healings between the experimental and control groups at the 3rd, 7th and 14th day after fibroblast transplantations were made in 8 guinea pigs, in which continuous clinical observation was possible in the same guinea pigs. Samples were processed for routine hematoxylin and eosin stains, immunohistochemical stains for fibroblast growth factor (FGF), transforming growth factor beta (TGF-beta), vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGF), and insulin like growth factors (IGF). RESULTS: The experimental groups showed decreased wound surface area at 3 and 7 days after transplantations, and more vascular, granulomatous wounds and fibroplasia responses compared with the control groups. Immunohistochemal stains revealed increased positive staining for FGF, TGF beta, and VEGF at the 1st, 2nd and 3rd weeks, compared with the controls. CONCLUSION: Transplantations of autologous cultured dermal fibroblasts proved to be clinically effective in the early wound healing of full thickness wounds of guinea pigs, and growth factors such as FGF, TGF VEGF must have some role in the mechanism of wound healing by autologous dermal fibroblasts.