Complex wounds in dogs are a recurrent problem in veterinary clinical application and can compromise skin healing; in this sense, tissue bioengineering focused on regenerative medicine can be a great ally. Decellularized and recellularized skin scaffolds are produced to be applied in different and complex canine dermal wounds in the present investigation. Dog skin fragments are immersed in a 0.5% sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) solution at room temperature and overnight at 4 °C for 12 days. Decellularized samples are evaluated by histological analysis, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and gDNA quantification. Some fragments are also recellularized using mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Eight adult dogs are divided into three groups for the application of the decellularized (Group I, n = 3) and recellularized scaffolds (Group II, n = 3) on injured areas, and a control group (Group III, n = 2). Wounds are evaluated and measured during healing, and comparisons among the three groups are described. In 30- and 60-day post-grafting, the histopathological analysis of patients from Groups I and II shows similar patterns, tissue architecture preservation, epithelial hyperplasia, hyperkeratosis, edema, and mononuclear inflammatory infiltrate. Perfect integration between scaffolds and wounds, without rejection or contamination, are observed in both treated groups. According to these results, decellularized skin grafts may constitute a potential innovative and functional tool to be adopted as a promising dog cutaneous wound treatment. This is the first study that applies decellularized and recellularized biological skin grafts to improve the healing process in several complex wounds in dogs, demonstrating great potential for regenerative veterinary medicine progress.

Alpaca is a South American camelid, particularly present in Peruvian highlands, where oxygen concentration and atmospheric pressure are very low. Due to this fact, gestational physiology has adapted to preserve the conceptus’ and mother’s health. In this context, several cellular and molecular features play an essential role during and at the end of gestation. Structural carbohydrates act on maternal–fetal communication, recognize exogenous molecules, and contribute to placental barrier selectivity. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize the structural carbohydrate profiles that are present in the term alpaca placenta, kept in their natural habitat of around 4,000 m height. For this propose, 12 term alpaca placentas were collected, and the material was obtained at the time of birth from camelids raised naturally in the Peruvian highlands, in the Cusco region. All placenta samples were processed for histological analysis. A lectin histochemical investigation was performed using 13 biotinylated lectins, allowing us to determine the location of carbohydrates and their intensity on a semi-quantitative scale. Our results demonstrated that during term gestation, the epitheliochorial alpaca placenta shows a high presence of carbohydrates, particularly glucose, α-linked mannose, N-acetylglucosamine β (GlcNAc), galactose (αGal), and N-acetylgalactosamine α (GalNAc), present in the trophoblast, amnion epithelium, and mesenchyme, as well as the presence of sialic acid residues and low affinity for fucose. In fetal blood capillaries, the presence of bi- and tri-antennary complex structures and α-linked mannose was predominated. In conclusion, we characterized the glycosylation profile in the term alpaca placenta. Based on our data, compared to those reported in the bibliography, we suggest that these carbohydrates could participate in the labor of these animals that survive in Peruvian extreme environments.

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