CULTURED KERATINOCYTE ALLOGRAFTS AND WOUND-HEALING IN SEVERE RECESSIVE DYSTROPHIC EPIDERMOLYSIS-BULLOSA

Background. Patients with recessive dystrophic epidermolysis bullosa ( RDEB) frequently have painful erosions that are slow to heal. There is no definitive treatment; therefore any therapy that improves wound he aling would be beneficial to these patients. Objective. Our purpose wa s to assess the effects of cultured allogeneic keratinocytes on wound healing in RDEB. Methods. Ten patients with RDEB and dermatome-induced superficial dermal wounds were studied. Cultured keratinocyte grafts were applied to part of the wound, with another part left ungrafted. B oth sites were assessed clinically and microscopically, particularly w ith regard to basement membrane zone reconstitution. Results: Apart fr om minor differences in keratinocyte differentiation and a moderate an algesic effect induced by the graft, there were no other distinguishin g findings in wound healing in the grafted and nongrafted sites. Concl usion: There was little clinical benefit from cultured keratinocyte al lografts in wound healing in RDEB. However, this study showed that RDE B keratinocytes have an inherent capacity to express some type VII col lagen epitopes transiently during wound healing, although this was not associated with the detection of anchoring fibrils.