title: Hyaluronan, heterogeneity, and healing: the effects of ultrapure hyaluronan of defined molecular size on the repair of full-thickness pig skin wounds.
abstract: The extracellular matrix macromolecule, hyaluronan, is thought to modulate wound healing. However, the molecular size of hyaluronan and contaminating associated proteins may be important determinants of these effects. We have examined the results of seven daily topical treatments of full-thickness skin wounds in pigs with ultrapure hyaluronan of defined molecular size. High molecular weight hyaluronan (>1000 kd) enhanced, whereas low molecular weight hyaluronan decreased, the rate of early wound contraction as compared with intermediate hyaluronan (molecular weight = 100 kd) and saline solution controls. Fracture strength at 21 days was reduced by high and intermediate molecular weight hyaluronan but not by low molecular weight hyaluronan. Wound perfusion, measured by means of a scanning laser-Doppler technique as a noninvasive indicator of angiogenesis, showed depression by high and intermediate molecular weight hyaluronan on day 3, but all forms of hyaluronan caused elevated blood flow on day 7. The architecture of granulation tissue in this wet healing model was highly organized, but no gross histologic differences were seen because of treatment. Different molecular species of hyaluronan have differential effects on contraction, angiogenesis, and the evolution of wound strength. Where hyaluronan is used as a treatment or vehicle for wounds, its precise composition should be specified.
authors.affiliation: Wound Healing Institute, Churchill Hospital, Oxford, UK.
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Arnold
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Jia
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: He
authors.forename: G W
authors.initials: GW
authors.lastname: Cherry
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Carbow
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Meyer-Ingold
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Bader
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: West