Influence of Donor Sources and Culture Media on the Histo-Morphological Quality of Human Artificial Skin Models
January 2018
in “
Online Publication Service of Würzburg University (Würzburg University)
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Studysummary This study found that donor age and culture medium significantly impact the quality of human full-thickness skin models, with implications for their use as animal model alternatives in research. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.
This study systematically investigated the influence of donor age and culture media on the quality of human in vitro full-thickness skin models. Using foreskin samples from 16 children, 144 skin models were created with three different media: KGM 2, KGM 2 variant, and EpiLife®. The study found that EpiLife® resulted in significantly fewer models with cell nuclei in the stratum corneum compared to the other media, although it did not significantly affect the thickness of the epidermis and dermis. Younger donor age was associated with a thicker epidermis, while older age reduced epidermis-dermis separation. A significant interaction between donor and medium influenced the skin model quality, highlighting the importance of optimizing donor-medium combinations. These findings were relevant for using these models as animal replacement models in research, with potential applications in studying acute GvHD of the skin.
