We have previously shown that positively charged
dextran (
DEAE A25) increases
wound breaking strength in linear incisions in rats and nonhuman primates at days 10-14 postwounding. In this article, we examined the cellular responses to different types of charged
dextran beads (
DEAE A50 and
Cytodex-1) in culture studies and in rat incisional
wounds. We show that
Cytodex 1 and
DEAE A50 beads also increased
wound breaking strength in a rat linear incisional model. However, the increase was approximately 30-40% less than that observed in
wounds treated with
DEAE A25 beads. The main distinction between the three types of beads was the presence of bead clusters observed in tissue sections.
Wounds treated with
DEAE A25 beads formed distinct clusters while both
Cytodex 1 and
DEAE A50 beads clustered to a lesser extent or failed to cluster at all. We propose that the different types of charged
dextran beads improve healing by promoting cell adhesion and encouraging proliferation in close proximity to the
wound. We also hypothesize that the 30-40% improvement in
wound breaking strength seen with
DEAE A25 beads compared to other types of charged
dextran beads (
DEAE A50 and
Cytodex-1) originates from the unique characteristic of
DEAE A25 beads in forming cell-bead aggregates adjacent to the wounded area. This clustering, in turn, affects the distribution of cells infiltrating the wounded area (such as macrophages) during the healing process and, as a consequence, alters the distribution of matrix molecules and
growth factors secreted by these cells.