Experimental Keloid Scar Models: A Review of Methodological Issues

Abstract

Both models may help to elucidate the pathways of keloid formation and promote development and testing of therapies. Tissue culture is better suited to studies of pathogenesis, whereas the animal models are more suitable for therapeutic testing.

Equine exuberant granulation tissue and human keloids: A comparative histopathologic study

“…32 However, animal models of keloid disease have thus far been confined to grafting human keloid tissues into athymic rodent models; severe limitations result from the different structure of mouse skin and also from the absence of a thymus, which impacts immunity and inflammatory response. 2 People and horses are the only known mammals to naturally develop excessive granulation tissue resulting in benign tumor-like growths during wound healing, which are cosmetically displeasing and can impair function. 8 In both cases, the lesions preferentially develop in areas characterized by high tension.…”

“…Thus, current understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms underlying scar formation and fibrosis is primarily derived from the study of cultured cells and experimental animal models. 2 Biomedical researchers have studied in vivo wound healing in various animal species ranging from fruit flies to urodele amphibians to common laboratory animals, particularly rats and mice. 3,4 Murine models are often studied because of the need for large numbers of identical, genetically modified mice that address specific hypotheses 5 ; however, wound repair kinetics varies among species.…”

“…16 The lesions behave clinically as benign tumor-like growths, in that the evolving scar and wound healing process is halted at the proliferative phase of wound repair. 2,7 Several intrinsic and extrinsic mechanisms have been implicated in this aberrant repair that ultimately leads to fibrosis. These include fibroblast phenotypes different than in normal wound healing.…”

Closure of skin incisions in rabbits by laser soldering: I: Wound healing pattern

“…It should be mentioned that experimentation using animal models is limited to some extent, as it cannot present all of the wide spectrum of features in skin-wound healing pathologies in humans, such as hypertrophic or keloid scars [28,29].…”

Non‐animal models of wound healing in cutaneous repair: In silico, in vitro, ex vivo, and in vivo models of wounds and scars in human skin

“…1 However, animal models are not perfect as they do not always accurately represent the structure of human skin or develop similar scars, which are comparable to abnormal scars observed in humans such as keloid scars. 4,5 In addition, the potential cost, ethical, and moral issues associated with their use can be challenging and problematic. [6][7][8] The best current animal model in terms of dermal structure and underlying mechanisms is considered to be the pig.…”