Abstract / Summary
Abstract Full-thickness burn wounds present significant clinical challenges due to impaired healing. This study evaluated the therapeutic efficacy of allogeneic adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (ASCs) combined with decellularized rabbit lung scaffolds (DRLS) in a rabbit burn wound model. A DRLS was fabricated and validated histologically and quantitatively by residual DNA analysis. Two full-thickness experimental burn injuries were created on the dorsal aspect of 18 adult male rabbits. The animals were randomly divided into three groups ( n = 6 per group): an untreated control group, a DRLS-treated group, and an ASCs-DRLS-treated group (4.6–5.0 × 10⁵ cells per wound). Wound healing was assessed on days 14 and 28 using the wound contraction rate, wound area measurement, and histopathological scoring performed by pathologists blinded to the treatment groups. Wound area did not differ significantly among the groups on day 14 ( P = 0.225). By day 17, wounds in the ASCs-DRLS group were smaller than those in the control group (0.20 ± 0.01 vs. 0.61 ± 0.04 cm², P = 0.0002). On day 14, the ASCs-DRLS group exhibited greater re-epithelialization (3.17 ± 0.33 vs. 1.33 ± 0.33, P = 0.007) and higher inflammation resolution scores (2.83 ± 0.33 vs. 1.50 ± 0.00, P = 0.023), with enhanced collagen deposition on day 28 (3.83 ± 0.16 vs. 2.17 ± 0.33, P = 0.006). The DRLS alone did not significantly differ from the control at any time point. These findings indicate that ASCs delivered on DRLS significantly accelerated burn wound healing, with the therapeutic effect attributable to the cells delivered on the scaffold rather than the scaffold alone. The lung-derived scaffold appeared to provide a supportive microenvironment that enhanced ASC paracrine activity and promoted tissue regeneration. This ASCs-DRLS combination represents a promising cell-scaffold strategy for burn wound therapy.