Overview of matrix metalloprotease modulation and growth factor protection in wound healing. Part 1.

Increasingly, basic research is revealing that the biochemical environment of the non-healing wound is different from that of the healing wound in ways that negatively affect multiple aspects of the healing process. These areas of biochemical difference may provide avenues of research for new therapeutic interventions. A particular biochemical finding in nonhealing wounds of diverse etiologies is the persistent elevated levels of a specific class of proteolytic enzymes known as the matrix metalloproteases or MMPs. The effects of these high levels of MMPs in the wound environment are thought to include local destruction of growth factors and their receptors as well as degradation of granulation tissue components. MMPs are fast gaining attention as potential causative factors in impaired healing, and recently, strategies have been focused on preventing or reducing their levels, once elevated, in the wound environment. A proprietary combination of bovine collagen and oxidized regenerated cellulose has demonstrated an ability to not only reduce elevated wound proteases but also sequester and protect wound growth factors and promote cellular chemotaxis and proliferation.