Journal of burn care & research : official publication of the American Burn Association
-
Review Comparative Study
Advances in Research in Animal Models of Burn-Related Hypertrophic Scarring.
Skin burn injuries affect approximately 500,000 people per year in France. After deep burns, functional sequelae associated with hypertrophic and retractile scars are an important public health problem. To understand the pathophysiology of sequelae and evaluate new therapeutic approaches, the use of animal models that should be standard tools is necessary. ⋯ Elevated hypertrophic scars are obtained, but they spontaneously resolve within a year. Although mortality in small animals is higher and creates technical difficulties, many models on nude mice are used in research. Indeed, transplantation of human hypertrophic scar tissue or human skin grafts may induce hypertrophic scarring that can last more than a year permitting additional manipulation and experimentation.