Vibriolysin, a new agent for enzymatic
debridement, was recently shown to rapidly and thoroughly hydrolyze
burn wound eschar within full-thickness
wounds. The safety of this agent and its subsequent effect on wound healing processes have yet to be established and are addressed in this study. Within the context of a porcine partial-thickness
burn wound model, the
enzyme was shown to digest desiccated eschar after two applications, whereas four applications of another enzymatic preparation were required. Computerized morphometric analysis of dermal and epidermal growth from histologic sections on
wounds harvested at day 7 and 10 was used to assess wound healing. The data indicate that
wounds treated with Vibriolysin exhibited significant dose-responsive stimulation of granulation tissue (neodermis) as compared with control treatment groups. Repeated
protease applications did not convert partial-thickness
burns to full-thickness
wounds, and no adverse inflammatory responses were detected between 1 and 10 days. The results suggest that in addition to its documented efficacy in the
debridement of
burn eschar, Vibriolysin may have beneficial effects on dermal reparative events.