EFFECTS OF LOW-FREQUENCY PULSED ELECTRICAL-CURRENT ON KERATINOCYTES IN-VITRO

The effects of low frequency pulsed electrical current on epidermal re pair in vitro were examined. Charge-balanced current stimuli proposed for chronic wound treatment were tested on skin keratinocytes cultured at an air-liquid interface on dead human dermis. Results imply that t he balance between proliferation and differentiation in electrically t reated samples is significantly modified in favor of differentiation. More advanced differentiation, shown through epidermal histology, was obtained in cultures exposed to electrical current, whereas the cultur e growth, the result of keratinocyte migration and proliferation, was greater in control samples. (C) 1997 Wiley-Liss Inc.