Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University Singapore, 11 Mandalay Road, Singapore City, Singapore.
Skin Research Institute of Singapore, Agency for Science, Technology and Research, 11 Mandalay Road, Singapore City, Singapore.
Sci Rep. 2021 Oct 11;11(1):20168. doi: 10.1038/s41598-021-99643-9.
High prevalence of non-healing chronic wounds contributes to a huge healthcare burden across the world. Early treatment interventions for non-healing wounds are vital. It was previously shown that accumulation of 15% or more of senescent cells in a chronic wound edge is an indicator that the wound is unlikely to heal. However, determining the presence of senescent cells would require invasive procedures such as tissue biopsies to be taken. In this study, we found a strong correlation between decreased collagen area and presence of senescent cells in human chronic wounds i.e. venous leg ulcer (VLU), diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) and pressure ulcer (PRU). We also report that the lowest collagen levels were found in VLU patients less than 60 years of age, with a persistent wound of > 24 months. Elevated levels of senescent cells were also found in VLU of males. Second harmonic imaging of collagen at the edge of chronic wounds with a handheld multiphoton device could be used to predict the number of senescent cells, indicating if the wound is on a healing trajectory or not. Our data support the use of collagen imaging in cutaneous wound assessment for a faster and non-invasive method to predict cellular senescence and determining wound trajectory of healing.
高比例的非愈合性慢性创面给全球医疗带来了巨大负担。早期治疗非愈合性创面至关重要。此前的研究表明，慢性创面边缘积累 15%或更多衰老细胞是该创面难以愈合的一个指标。然而，确定衰老细胞的存在需要进行组织活检等侵入性操作。在这项研究中，我们发现人类慢性创面（静脉性下肢溃疡（VLU）、糖尿病足溃疡（DFU）和压疮（PRU））中胶原面积减少与衰老细胞的存在之间存在很强的相关性。我们还报告称，VLU 患者中胶原水平最低，年龄小于 60 岁，创面持续时间超过 24 个月。男性 VLU 中也发现了高水平的衰老细胞。使用手持式多光子设备对慢性创面边缘的胶原进行二次谐波成像，可以预测衰老细胞的数量，表明创面是否处于愈合轨迹上。我们的数据支持使用胶原成像来评估皮肤创面，这是一种更快、更无创的方法，可用于预测细胞衰老，并确定创面的愈合轨迹。
