2006 - UZ Leuven

subdermally in full-thickness wounds on both flanks (n = 6 per flank) of2 Goettinger minipigs. After 1 wk, chambers were inoculated withStaphylococcus aureus, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, or vehicle only.Throughout the study, wound fluid was harvested for quantitativebacterial cultures to monitor infection. Animals were followed for 4 wk,after which tissue biopsies were taken for histologic analysis andquantitative bacterial counts. The implanted titanium chambers werewell tolerated by the pigs throughout the study. After inoculation of thechambers, wound infection was established and maintained for 14 d.Despite infection, no systemic effects were noted. Crosscontaminationwas negligible, compared with the vehicle-only control.After tissue ingrowth, each chamber creates a closed system thatallows harvest of exudate or application of substances without loss ofmaterial from the chamber. Because 12 chambers are implanted ineach pig, researchers have the opportunity to compare multipletreatment options (for example, antibiotics, antimicrobial peptides,gene therapy) in the same animal, with no interindividual variation. Weconclude that the use of titanium chambers in pigs provides a reliableand reproducible in vivo model to investigate wound healing, woundinfection, and treatment options.VRANCKX J.J., VERMEULEN P., DICKENS S., MASSAGE P.: Smartautologous skin engineering: science and fiction. J. Plast. Reconstr. &Aesth. Surg., 2006; 59: S7.The ultimate tissue engineering construct for tissue repair should beautologous to optimally integrate without rejection, three-dimensionalto bridge deep defects, porous to allow cell migration; bio-inductive forcells to proliferate and to topically produce extra cellular matrixcomponents, bio-inductive and supportive for angio and arteriogenesisand chemotactic for cells that infiltrate from the wound surroundingsand that will orchestrate, stimulate and regulate these processes.Proliferative cells with stem cell properties should be part of theconstruct in order to obtain an optimal degree of integration with theintrinsic capacity to respond to a changing microenvironment. Suchconstructs should also be part of the construct in order to obtain anoptimal degree of integration with the intrinsic capacity to respond to achanging microenvironment. Such constructs should also beapplicable to defects present under (or even induced by) anunfavorable healing environment and in systemic diseases such asdiabetes or cardiovascular and under treatment with corticosteoirds orcytostatica. These constructs may be spiked with recombinant DNAplasmids or populated with transgene cells transfected or transducedwith plasmids expressing wound-healing proteins that are deficient orlacking in the particular morbidity state or, conversely, with proteinase92