TITLE:
Wound Treatment Using Growth Factors
AUTHORS:
Keisuke Okabe, Ruka Hayashi, Noriko Aramaki-Hattori, Yoshiaki Sakamoto, Kazuo Kishi
KEYWORDS:
Wound Healing; Growth Factors; bFGF
JOURNAL NAME:
Modern Plastic Surgery,
Vol.3 No.3,
July
5,
2013
ABSTRACT:
Treatment with growth factors is an
effective method to promote wound healing. Several growth factors have been
used in wound treatment, including basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF)
discovered in the 1970s, platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), epidermal
growth factor (EGF), and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP). In 2001, Kaken Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd. launched Fiblast Spray
in Japan.
This product is a topical formulation containing recombinant human bFGF. It is
used to treat decubitus ulcers and skin ulcers (burn ulcers and leg ulcers).
There is increasing interest in its stimulatory effect on wound healing and its
inhibitory effect on scar formation. Wound healing is a physiological phenomenon that involves a complex series
of integrated cellular and biochemical responses, characterized by phases of
hemostasis, inflammation, proliferation, and maturation. However, much of its
detailed mechanism remains unknown. There have been many basic research studies
on wound healing using cells and experimental animals. If findings can be used
from such studies and clinical practice, development of even more effective
treatments might be possible.