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Abstract
Thrombin has been clinically used for topical hemostasis and wound management for
more than six decades. The half-life of thrombin in human plasma is shorter than 15s
due to close control by inhibitors. In order to stabilize the thrombin, it was bound
to maghemite (gamma-Fe(2)O(3)) nanoparticles, as demonstrated in previous work. The
aim of the present study was to examine the efficiency of the bound thrombin for wound
healing applications compared to the free thrombin. For this purpose incisional wounds
on rat skin were treated with a mixture of fibrinogen, CaCl(2) solution and free or
bound thrombin. The wounds' edges were then approximated by skin staples. The control
incisional wounds were closed with staples only. In the course of 28 days of healing
the highest values of skin tensile strength were observed following treatment with
the bound thrombin. Significantly lower values of tensile strength were observed following
treatment with the free thrombin, and the lowest values were obtained following treatment
with staples only. The histological findings correlate with the mechanical strength
measurements, which demonstrate the most advanced stages of healing following treatment
with the bound thrombin.