Confocal Microscopic Analysis of Scarless Repair in the Fetal Rat

    January 2002 in “ Plastic & Reconstructive Surgery ”
    Steven R. Beanes, Fei-Ya Hu, Chia Soo, Catherine Dang, Mark M. Urata, Kang Ting, James B. Atkinson, Prosper Benhaim, Marc H. Hedrick, Peter Lorenz
    TLDR Fetal rat wounds heal without scars at 16.5 days gestation.
    The study analyzed scarless repair in fetal rat wounds using confocal microscopy, focusing on the transition from scarless to scar-forming healing during gestation. Researchers operated on 16 pregnant Sprague-Dawley rats, creating 2 mm wounds on fetal rats at gestational ages 14.5, 16.5, and 18.5 days. E16 fetal rat wounds healed completely without scarring, maintaining normal hair follicle and collagen architecture, while E18 wounds showed slower healing, with only 50% healing completely at 72 hours and forming scars without hair follicles. Confocal microscopy revealed thin, wispy collagen fibers in E16 wounds, contrasting with thickened fibers in E18 wounds. The study highlighted the E16 gestational age as a critical period for scarless healing, providing insights into the potential for studying in vivo scarless wound healing.
    Discuss this study in the Community →

    Research cited in this study

    1 / 1 results