Abstract
Repeated cutaneous injections of bleomycin (50μg/day) into the dorsal skin of mice induced cutaneous sclerosis. When 6mm-size rounded full-thickness wounds were prepared, wound closure in bleomycin-induced sclerotic skin was delayed in comparison with normal skin wounds. We then compared the stimulatory effect of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) on the healing of wounds prepared in bleomycin-injected mice and normal control mice. bFGF (1μg/cm2) administered once after wounding slightly stimulated wound healing in both mice models. mRNA levels of TGFβ1 and Col1A1 were determined by quantitative PCR method using tissues extracted from the bleomycin-injected skin and normal control skin. The expression level of TGFβ1 was not different between the two groups, while that of Col1A1 in bleomycin-injected skin was 100 times higher than the normal control skin. These results confirmed the clinical utility of Fibrast spray in the treatment of chronic skin ulcers.
