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Laboratory Research
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Removing the barriers to healing: the ability of advanced wound care dressings to rebalance the wound environment C Boyle, B Cullen, T Rennison, Johnson & Johnson Wound Management, Gargarve, North Yorkshire, UK Non-healing wounds contain elevated levels of destructive proteases, which can degrade important biochemical healing factors. This increase in destructive processes and the subsequent delay in healing may result for a number of reasons. One possible cause of these biochemical changes is an elevated bioburden in the wound. However, high levels of bacteria have also been found in some chronic wounds that progress to healing. This suggests a critical balance is required between host response and bacterial action. Thus treatments should aim to rebalance bioburden and also the biochemistry of the wound environment thereby removing barriers to healing..In this study we assessed the ability of ORC/collagen matrix containing 1% silver-ORC and other advanced wound dressings to transform the chronic wound environment. In particular we examined their ability to positively modify chronic wound fluid, by exposing cells in culture to wound fluid pretreated with each dressing. In addition we examined the ability of these dressings to bind and inactivate both host and bacterial proteases..Dressings containing silver were found to have antimicrobial properties against common chronic wound pathogens. However ORC/collagen matrix containing 1% silver-ORC was also able to overcome the negative effects of the chronic wound fluid on dermal cells in culture. Furthermore, this matrix absorbed harmful host and bacterial proteases present in the chronic wound environment. These results suggest that ORC/collagen matrix containing 1% silver-ORC may help restore a more normal wound-healing environment, even when bacterial populations are elevated. |
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