DEVELOPMENT OF A MOUSE LESION MODEL FOR TESTING INNOVATIVE NANOCELLULOSIC TREATMENTS

• Published in: Physiological research 2023-09, Vol.72 (5), p.P1-P2
• Main Authors: Ancuţa, D L, Ioniţă, F, Coman, C
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anesthesia; Animal models; Ketamine; Skin diseases; Skin lesions; Wound healing
• ISSN: 0862-8408; 1802-9973

The study of the healing of various skin lesions requires the choice of an appropriate animal model, and in translational research, no animal fully predicts all clinical outcomes. However, the mouse is the most commonly used, although there are differences between murine and human skin repair. The aim of the study was to evaluate the skin regeneration process in a mouse model, by excision of a skin flap, followed by the application of an innovative nano cellulosic treatment. 20 BALB/c males, aged 10 weeks, were included in the study, divided into a control group and a treatment group. Under general deep anesthesia (a cocktail of Ketamine and Acepromazine), the animals were subjected to a surgical intervention that involved the excision of a skin flap, with a diameter of 10 mm from the dorsal scapular region. In the control group, the wound was covered with Tegaderm dressing, and the treatment group was tested with patches covered with nano cellulosic particles. In both groups, the patches were changed once every two days, an interval that coincided with the measurement of the diameter of the wounds. After 14 days of clinical monitoring, the animals were euthanized by an overdose of anesthetic, and samples of scar tissue were taken for histopathological examination. The results showed that mice provide a satisfactory animal model for healing skin wounds, and from the analysis of clinical data we noticed that the rate of skin regeneration, after the first 7 days after excision, was 51.05 % in the case of the treatment group compared to 39.87 % in the control group. At the end of the study, the initial diameter of the wounds was significantly reduced, in the case of both groups, reaching from 200 mm2 to 17±3 mm2 in diameter. These results will be complemented by the histopathological examination of the scar tissue samples collected to confirm the effectiveness of the applied nano cellulosic treatment. In conclusion, BALB/c mice met the needs of the study, the wound healing process being close to the human one. The innovative nano cellulosic treatments have proven their effectiveness and thereby contribute to the optimization of current therapeutic protocols.