Abstract
Background
The etiology of non-healing ulcers depends on both systemic and local factors. The introduction of advanced dressing, negative wound therapy and compression therapy have undoubtedly improved clinical outcomes. The principal aim of study was to demonstrate the efficacy of dermal micrografts in the treatment of ulcers with different etiologies. The second aim was to investigate in vitro the action of micrografts in the regenerative process.
Methods
The dermal micro-grafts were obtained from mechanical disaggregation of small pieces of skin tissue through a medical device called Rigeneracons.
Results
We observed in vivo the ability of dermal autologous micrografts to improve the healing of venous, diabetic, pressure and post-traumatic ulcers after few week of treatment accomplished in general with a better quality of life for the patients. In vitro results showed that these micrografts express mesenchymal stem cells (MSCS) marker such as CD34, CD73, CD90 and CD105, and are able to form a viable and proliferative biocomplex with collagen sponge. Finally, the site of ulcers displayed a different expression of epidermal growth factors, insulin-like growth factors, platelet-derived growth factors and their receptors and tumor necrosis factor-β with respect to healthy skin samples.
Conclusion
We reported a good outcome for the treatment of chronic ulcers using dermal autologous micrografts. Finally, we suggest that the positivity to MSCs markers and the ability to interact with a scaffold can play a key role in their regenerative properties.
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Acknowledgments
We thank Prof. Giuseppina Caraglia B.A., English language expert and assistant for Department of Sciences and Environmental, Biological, Pharmaceutical Technologies, Caserta, Second University of Naples for providing excellent technical revision and support.
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The authors A.G. and L.T. are members of Scientific Division of Human Brain Wave srl, the manufacturer of the Rigeneracons medical device used in this study. No funding. Other authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.
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The original version of this article was revised: The name of the seventh author was incorrectly listed as Gabriella Maria Casella De Angelis, when it is actually Gabriella Maria Cusella De Angelis.
M. Riccio and G. A. Ferraro contributed equally to this work.
An erratum to this article is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12015-016-9698-9.
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De Francesco, F., Graziano, A., Trovato, L. et al. A Regenerative Approach with Dermal Micrografts in the Treatment of Chronic Ulcers. Stem Cell Rev and Rep 13, 139–148 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12015-016-9692-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12015-016-9692-2