Reciprocy and helicy used to relate mEGF and wound healing

The Rogers homeodynamic principles and holistic conceptual framework from which they are derived are useful for describing, explaining, and predicting events that have a direct relevance for the professional practice of nursing. Reciprocy and helicy, principles that deal with the mutual interaction between human and environmental fields, and the unidirectionality of their curvilinear progression along the space--time dimension were useful in constructing a theoretical system for explaining the relationship of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and epidermal wound healing. Attachment of the polypeptide EGF to its receptor is viewed as the initial interaction of the human and environmental fields that eventually results in a change in the EGF and the cellular functions of the keratinocytes. At the empirical level, the EGF-keratinocyte interaction is indexed by changes in the keratinocyte migration rate, the mitotic index, and differentiation of cells over the wound. A pilot project to test the concept, using a young Yorkshire-mix pig, is described.