Basic fibroblast growth factor accelerates and improves second-degree burn wound healing.

Second-degree burns are sometimes a concern for shortening patient suffering time as well as the therapeutic choice. Thus, adult second-degree burn patients (average 57.8 +/- 13.

Combined surgical excision and radiation therapy for keloid treatment.

Various methods have been attempted for the treatment and management of keloids; however, there is little satisfactory clinical evidence in long-term follow ups. Also, there is a preference for occurrence and recurrence in anatomic location. Usually anatomic locations with higher regional tension and more sebaceous glands are inclined toward pathogenesis.

Acceleration of sensory neural regeneration and wound healing with human mesenchymal stem cells in immunodeficient rats.

The sensory nerve is highly involved in lower extremity wound healing. In diabetic and vascular diseases, impaired nerve function and blood flow delay wound healing. Tissue regeneration using adult stem cells is a targeted therapeutic modality in disorders of nerve and blood supply.

Attenuation of cysteinyl leukotrienes induces human mesenchymal stem cell differentiation.

Although there are numerous investigations describing bone marrow cells or bone-marrow derived cells at the site of such injuries as bone fractures, infarction and subsequent ischemic reperfusion injury, or cutaneous wounds, little is know about the factors that affect the cells in those clinical situations. Cysteinyl leukotrienes have been extensively investigated in airway diseases that may eventually lead to lung fibrosis; while the engraftment of mesenchymal stem cells have been shown to reverse bleomycin-induced lung fibrosis in vivo. Therefore, we elucidated the involvement of cysteinyl leukotrienes in human mesenchymal stem cell proliferation and differentiation.

The quality of pediatric burn scars is improved by early administration of basic fibroblast growth factor.

Pediatric burn wounds can be problematic because an accurate evaluation is difficult as the result of anatomically immature vasculature or immobilization failure, especially in patients with second-degree burns, and because the burn surface areas and the burn depth tend to worsen over the course of time. Delayed wound healing results in unsightly scarring, such as hypertrophic scars, which are problematic both esthetically and functionally. Among cytokines and growth factors, basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is clinically proven, having demonstrated accelerated acute and chronic wound healing.

A polyurethane dressing is beneficial for split-thickness skin-graft donor wound healing.

Few comparative studies have been performed on the various wound-dressing materials or methods proposed for use. To clarify the efficacy of wound dressing, 35 patients (17 females, aged 44.8+/-26.

Elevated circulating leukemia inhibitory factor in patients with extensive burns.

To investigate circulating cytokine responsiveness in major burns in association with the systemic stress response system, we tested hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis markers in extensive burn cases treated in the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Nagasaki University. The HPA axis is a major stress response system, and the leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) may be a potent mediator of the HPA axis; therefore, circulating LIF levels in burn patients were studied. Twenty extensively burned patients (burn surface area, >20%), ie, 10 women and 10 men, 37 to 77 years of age (average: 59.

A basic fibroblast growth factor improved the quality of skin grafting in burn patients.

To avoid hypertrophic scars in burn wounds, the simultaneous application of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) with regular surgical debridement and skin grafting was investigated for skin hardness by clinical examination and instrumental measurement. As little is known about the role of bFGF in wounds, burn wound scars were tested for hardness. Burn scars in various anatomical locations at least 1 year after final wound healing clinically demonstrated a significantly lower hard score in bFGF-treated wounds than in non-bFGF wounds (0.