title: Exudate collection using wound sponges-An easy, non-invasive and reliable method to explore protease activities in ulcers.
abstract: Proteases are important for wound healing, but in excessive amounts or left uncontrolled, they may cause healing impairment or other severe wound complications. Point-of-care testing for protease activities in wounds may be useful for monitoring the effectiveness of treatment, and for early identification of wounds that potentially fail to heal. Here we describe an easy, noninvasive method to collect wound fluid for evaluating the protease milieu of wounds. Wound fluids were collected using sterile sponges applied between wound surface and normal wound dressing. Wound fluid could be easily squeezed or centrifuged out of the sponges and was tested for gelatinase (MMP-2 and MMP-9) activities by gel zymography. In addition, we measured polymorphonuclear granulocyte elastase levels by ELISA. Both gelatinases were remarkably stable in sponge derived fluids, as no significant loss was observed even when samples were stored for 3 days at room temperature. Protease levels were highly diverse amongst patients and, in some cases, showed substantial variations in the course of the treatment. The here described wound sponge approach represents a patient-friendly and reliable method to collect wound fluid for evaluating wound healing relevant biomarkers, such as matrix metalloproteinases.
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Marie-Thérèse
authors.initials: MT
authors.lastname: Ruf
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Arianna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Andreoli
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Gabriel
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Vujic
authors.affiliation: Department of Dermatology, University Hospital Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Itin
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Gerd
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Pluschke
authors.affiliation: Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel, Switzerland.|University of Basel, Basel, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Schmid
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005122:Exudates and Transudates / Q000201:enzymology* / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9; D008875:Middle Aged; D010447:Peptide Hydrolases / Q000378:metabolism*; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D015503:Surgical Sponges; D014456:Ulcer / Q000201:enzymology*; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D010447:Peptide Hydrolases; D020778:Matrix Metalloproteinase 2; D020780:Matrix Metalloproteinase 9