Greenbottle (Lucilia sericata) Larval Secretions Delivered from a Prototype Hydrogel Wound Dressing Accelerate the Closure of Model Wounds

摘要

The resurgence of larval biotherapy as a debridement tool in wound management has been accompanied by several clinical reports highlighting concomitant tissue regeneration.Studies employing in vitro cell motility assays have found that purified excretory/secretory (ES) products from Greenbottle larvae (blowfly,Lucilia sericata) are motogenic for human dermal fibroblasts when used as a supplement in culture media.The objective of the present study was to determine whether ES delivered using a prototype hydrogel wound dressing induced similar motogenic effects on fibroblastic (3T3) and epithelial cells (HaCaTs) comprising a scratched-monolayer wound model.Quantitative analysis by MTT assay failed to detect significant mitogenic effects of ES on either cell type.Quantitative image analysis revealed that ES exposure markedly accelerated wound closure through a motogenic effect on both fibroblasts and keratinocytes.Quantitative histochemical analysis detected significantly higher phosphotyrosine (pTyr) expression in ES-exposed cell cultures than in controls; moreover immunocytochemistry revealed conspicuously raised levels of pTyr expression in cells located at the wound margin.By attenuation with a panel of enzyme inhibitors these effects were attributed to the protease components of ES.The present results suggest that controlled delivery of ES as a follow-up to maggot debridement therapy may be an effective therapeutic option for stimulation of tissue regeneration in wound management.