Intrauterine wound healing in a 20 week human fetus

Abstract

Limb amputations, probably caused by amniotic constriction bands, were examined histologically in a 20 week human fetus to assess the degree of intrauterine healing. No acute inflammatory process, no removal of necrotic material, and no granulation tissue formation were seen at any of the amputation sites. A recent ulcer, probably caused by friction of an exposed piece of bone in the stump of the right leg, also showed no inflammatory response. Healing was by coagulation of exposed tissue and by a minor degree of mesenchymal proliferation without repair. Similar changes have been described in experimental intrauterine wound healing in rats, lambs, opossums and baboons. Conversion from a non-specific to a classical postnatal inflammatory response occurs sometime before term. It is not known at what point this change takes place in man; examination of this infant suggests that it occurs after the twentieth week of gestation.

Dermal Transforming Growth Factor-β Responsiveness Mediates Wound Contraction and Epithelial Closure

“…The postnatal knockout of dermal TGF-␤ signaling did not affect the histological organization of intact skin, but neodermis was markedly altered in syn- Adult skin wound healing involves overlapping phases of acute inflammation, rapid proliferation of epithelial and dermal cells, and the formation of a persistent scar, while embryonic and fetal skin wound healing is rapid, with minimal inflammation, and it is scarless. 36,37 During development of mouse skin, the transition from scarless to fibrotic healing occurs after embryonic day 16. Intrinsic differences between fetal and adult fibroblasts can influence the quality of wound repair.…”

Chemokines in Wound Healing and as Potential Therapeutic Targets for Reducing Cutaneous Scarring

“…1 Fetal wound healing is entirely regenerative before 24 weeks gestation, without scar tissue formation. 2,3 Behavioral discrepancies have been attributed to differing inflammatory responses and cytokine profiles of fetal and adult wounds. These are controlled by a range of bioactive molecules, including chemokines.…”

Automated multidimensional image analysis reveals a role for Abl in embryonic wound repair

“…This ability is remarkable in embryos, in which epidermal wounds heal rapidly, with little inflammation and no scarring (Rowlatt, 1979). The rapid embryonic response to wounds is conserved across species, from fruit flies to humans (Longaker et al, 1990;McCluskey and Martin, 1995;Rowlatt, 1979;Whitby and Ferguson, 1991).…”

“…This ability is remarkable in embryos, in which epidermal wounds heal rapidly, with little inflammation and no scarring (Rowlatt, 1979). The rapid embryonic response to wounds is conserved across species, from fruit flies to humans (Longaker et al, 1990;McCluskey and Martin, 1995;Rowlatt, 1979;Whitby and Ferguson, 1991). Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms of embryonic wound repair might help to develop strategies to accelerate wound healing in adults (Degen and Gourdie, 2012;Sonnemann and Bement, 2011).…”