Wound repair and regeneration : official publication of the Wound Healing Society [and] the European Tissue Repair Society
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An enzymatic debriding preparation was formulated with purified enzyme derived from a crude pineapple stem extract. The primary component of this preparation was the sulfhydryl protease ananain which represented >/=85% of the proteolytic activity. The remaining proteolytic activity in the preparation was contributed by a co-purifying homologous cysteine protease comosain. ⋯ Complete debridement of these wounds was accomplished within 4 to 5 days. Treatment of ischemic cutaneous ulcerations in this animal model with two commercially available enzyme-debriding agents provided little or no debridement of the necrotic tissue. In vitro, Vianain treatment of surgically debrided human tissue samples, obtained from patients with burn injury or cutaneous ulcers, showed that the protease preparation was effective in rapidly digesting these necrotic tissues.