Comparative experimental study of wound healing in mice: Pelnac versus Integra

Strategies for skin regeneration have been developed to provide effective treatment for cutaneous wounds and disease. Dermal substitutes have been used to cover the lesion to facilitate cell colonization, thereby promoting dermal regeneration. However, very little is known about Pelnac matrix especially at histological level. Therefore, the present work carried out an experimental in vivo comparative analysis between Pelnac and Integra, the most used dermal templates, in a mouse model of full-thickness skin wounds. Histological sections performed at the 3rd, 6th and 9th days after surgery were analyzed with regard to inflammatory response and vascularization. Both templates were completely incorporated in all animals at the end of the analyzed period. Pelnac-treated animals displayed reduced granulation tissue during the first 6 days of treatment compared to the animals treated with Integra at the same time period. The number of inflammatory cells (neutrophils) was similar in both groups during the period, significantly reducing at the end of inflammatory phase (9th day of treatment) consistent with the progression of healing process. In addition, the density of blood vessels was also statistically similar in both matrices. Therefore, the two dermal templates displayed comparable biological behavior in tissue repair. It is noteworthy that this is the first experimental study comparing Pelnac and Integra dermal templates with focus on full-thickness skin wounds.