Evaluation of a Porcine-Derived Placental Powder Treatment for Skin Wound Healing in an In Vivo Rat Skin Defect Model

Placental-derived biomaterials are rising in popularity for use in treating severe skin injuries due to their abundant pro-healing factors which result in improved healing outcomes. Clinical use of human-derived placental products, however, is limited by high costs, donor availability, and high variability (due to age, health, and genetic factors). Porcine-derived placental biomaterials have structure and pro-healing factors similar to human placental materials, and can be mass produced on a larger scale, with reduced variability and cost. In this study, porcine-derived placental biomaterials were compared to human-derived placental biomaterials in a full-thickness skin defect rat model. Porcine-derived placental powder (PP), porcine-derived placental membrane (PM), and human-derived amniotic membrane (HM) were tested and compared to no treatment in 36 rats. At 3, 7, and 14 days, rats were euthanized, and defects were excised for H&E and picrosirius red staining. Analyses included wound area measurement, gross inflammation and histological inflammation scoring, qualitative assessments via H&E staining, and quantification of collagen in defects via picrosirius staining over the 14-day healing process. No statistical differences were found between treatment groups at each timepoint for percent difference to adjacent control defect measurements including wound area, histological inflammation scoring, and collagen quantification analyses. PP treated defects had lower gross inflammation scores compared to HM at Day 3 (p = 0.048). Trends observed in wound area measurements, gross and histological inflammation scores, and collagen quantification suggested that PP treated defects induced greater healing efficacy at earlier timepoints. Additionally, PP defects had more rapid and robust crust formation which may have contributed to improved healing outcomes based on reduced inflammation, improved hair follicle growth, re-epithelialization, collagen formation, and protection during wound dressing changes.