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Healing wounds: interactive dressing speeds the process. (Science News This Week).


New, easily prepared materials promote more rapid healing of wounds in laboratory animals than conventional dressings do, researchers report. The new films ultimately could quicken the recovery of burn victims and patients with skin ulcers and bedsores Bedsores Definition

Bedsores are also called decubitus ulcers, pressure ulcers, or pressure sores. These tender or inflamed patches develop when skin covering a weight-bearing part of the body is squeezed between bone and another body part, or a bed,
, the team asserts.

The films are in a class of materials known as hydrogels, which are networks of polymers that swell in water. These new hydrogels are made from complex sugars called glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) that are normally found in the protein-containing gel, or extracellular matrix extracellular matrix (eksˈ·tr·selˑ·y , that surrounds animal cells.

To make each polymer network, Glenn D. Prestwich and his colleagues at the University of Utah The University of Utah (also The U or the U of U or the UU), located in Salt Lake City, is the flagship public research university in the state of Utah, and one of 10 institutions that make up the Utah System of Higher Education.  in Salt Lake City mix a solution of a modified GAG with a solution of much shorter molecules that make the GAG molecules stick together. For one hydrogel hy·dro·gel
n.
A colloidal gel in which the particles are dispersed in water.



hydrogel

a gel that contains water.

hydrogel Wound care A polymer absorptive wound dressing. See Dressing.
, the researchers use a modified version of hyaluronan, a natural GAG that promotes wound healing wound healing Physiology The repair of a wound Steps Inflammation, repair and closure, remodeling, final healing; repair of incisions may be either simple–'clean' wounds with little loss of tissue heal by 'primary intention', or 'dirty' wounds heal by . For the other, they used a modified version of a GAG called chondroitin sulfate chondroitin sulfate /chon·dro·i·tin sul·fate/ (kon-dro´i-tin)
1. a glycosaminoglycan that predominates in connective tissue, particularly cartilage, bone, and blood vessels, and in the cornea.

2.
, which until now had no known healing effect.

Prestwich and his coworkers tested these two hydrogel preparations on mice that had wounds extending through their skin. After the scientists covered a wound with one of the hydrogels, they bathed the material with saline and protected it with a conventional polymer dressing used, for example, when skin is removed for transplant to a burn site.

After 7 days, wounds treated with one of the two hydrogel materials were 33 percent more thoroughly healed than those covered with only the conventional dressing, the researchers report in the September Biomaterials. The new films slowly integrate themselves into a wound as it's healing, says Utah team member Jane Shelby.

"The problem of wounds in the United States United States, officially United States of America, republic (2005 est. pop. 295,734,000), 3,539,227 sq mi (9,166,598 sq km), North America. The United States is the world's third largest country in population and the fourth largest country in area.  is really a silent epidemic," comments Glenn Warden of the Shriner's Burn Institute in Cincinnati. In particular, skin ulcers and pressure sores pressure sore
n.
See bedsore.
 plague the nation's elderly and diabetic populations. These people and those with moderate burns might benefit from new dressings, he says.

Although other scientists have constructed hydrogels from GAGs, the new ones are easier to make, the Utah researchers claim. The team is now attempting to form their hydrogels at the wound site so that they better mold into its shape, says Prestwich. The group is also incorporating into their hydrogels growth factors that could further speed healing.

"This is another demonstration where we're moving toward truly matrix-based materials for the healing of wounds--getting away from simple coverings," comments Vincent Falanga of Roger Williams Medical Center in Providence, R.I.
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Article Details
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Author:Gorman, J.
Publication:Science News
Article Type:Brief Article
Geographic Code:1U8UT
Date:Jul 13, 2002
Words:414
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