THE PHYSICOCHEMICAL BASIS FOR THERMAL AND NONTHERMAL BURN INJURIES

One of the most basic problems of bunt science may well be the confusi ng nomenclature we use. The word 'burn' is used to identify several di fferent mechanisms of tissue injury. This article describes the proble m of accurately characterizing and defining the various burn injuries on the basis of molecular events. The most important objective is to d istinguish between the various physicochemical injuries on the basis o f differences in their fundamental physicochemical mechanisms and phys iological consequences. Also, pathophysiologically important biophysic al processes such as the central importance of cell membrane permeabil ization in acute cellular necrosis, which different types of burn inju ry have in common, Rue emphasized. The biophysics of membrane formatio n and permeabilization is presented to clarify the conditions for memb rane damage as well as to discuss the potential for therapeutic interv ention Where feasible, plausible new strategies to reverse the molecul ar alterations caused by injury are hypothesized. Copyright (C) 1996 E lsevier Science Ltd for ISBI.