Recently, we have developed the new dressings containing rhG-CSF or rhGM-CSF. In the present study we investigated either in vitro or in vivo biological activity of the dressings. Human whole blood samples were incubated with extracts from the collagen- or polyurethane-based dressings containing rhG-CSF or/and rhGM-CSF and phagocytic and oxidative metabolic activities were quantitated using Phagotest or Bursttest kits. The results indicate that both the number of phagocyting cells and the intensity of phagocytosis per cell, as well as the level of the oxidative burst in particular, were stimulated by one or both of the cytokines extracted. Next, the experimental skin wounds in mice were infected with 107 CFU of Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain ATCC 27853 and treated locally with the rhG-CSF-containing dressing. The analysis of the biopsies taken from the wounds indicated that in mice treated with the cytokine-containing dressing on the third day the log of CFU per biopsy was 5.0 vs. 6.2 in the control (P<0.001), and on the 8th day was lower than 4 vs. 5.4 in control (P<0.0001). Our findings clearly suggest that the newly designed dressings containing the incorporated CSFs can be used as effective topical cytokine-delivery system in the treatment of bacterial infections in wounds.
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