Middle age has a significant impact on gene expression during skin wound healing in male mice.

The vast majority of research on the impact of age on skin wound healing (WH) compares old animals to young ones. The middle age is often ignored in biogerontological research despite the fact that many functions that decline in an age-dependent manner have starting points in mid-life. With this in mind, we examined gene expression patterns during skin WH in late middle-aged versus young adult male mice, using the head and back punch models. The rationale behind this study was that the impact of age would first be detectable at the transcriptional level. We pinpointed several pathways which were over-activated in the middle-aged mice, both in the intact skin and during WH. Among them were various metabolic, immune-inflammatory and growth-promoting pathways. These transcriptional changes were much more pronounced in the head than in the back. In summary, the middle age has a significant impact on gene expression in intact and healing skin. It seems that the head punch model is more sensitive to the effect of age than the back model, and we suggest that it should be more widely applied in aging research on wound healing.

Objective quantification of subjective parameters in scars by use of a portable stereophotographic system.

INTRODUCTION: Current evaluation of scars predominantly relies on subjective evaluation and lacks objective evidence for quantification of therapeutic outcomes by methods suitable for application in daily clinical practice. The aim of this study was to analyze 3-dimensional parameters obtained by use of a portable stereophotographic system in conjunction with subjective clinical findings. METHODS: After validation of the stereophotographic system on plastic scar molds (n = 20), we analyzed subjective evaluations of patients' own, and lay and expert observers by a visual analog scale, and compared the findings for volume and surface irregularity to the objectively calculated values during follow-up of selected scars. RESULTS: Setup and image acquisition took 8 ± 2 seconds. Volumetric parameters highly correlated with real values (R2 = 0.9678). Expert's subjective evaluations were confirmed for volumetric calculations in 5 of 6 sample scars, but only in 2 of 6 for surface irregularity. DISCUSSION: Portable stereophotography can be used in a clinical setting and retains 3-dimensional features in digital reconstructions for subjective assessments, while simultaneously acquiring objective parameters. The objective parameters enabled to complement or even replace subjective clinical findings, and this method proved to be useful for follow-up of therapeutic outcomes in scars.