Inflammatory proteins and neutrophil extracellular traps increase in burn blister fluid 24h after burn

Tuo Zang; Mark W Fear; Tony J Parker; Andrew J A Holland; Lisa Martin; Donna Langley; Roy Kimble; Fiona M Wood; Leila Cuttle

doi:10.1016/j.burns.2024.02.026

Inflammatory proteins and neutrophil extracellular traps increase in burn blister fluid 24h after burn

Burns. 2024 Mar 1:S0305-4179(24)00064-0. doi: 10.1016/j.burns.2024.02.026. Online ahead of print.

Authors

Tuo Zang¹, Mark W Fear², Tony J Parker³, Andrew J A Holland⁴, Lisa Martin², Donna Langley¹, Roy Kimble⁵, Fiona M Wood⁶, Leila Cuttle⁷

Affiliations

¹ Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Faculty of Health, School of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Children's Health Research, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
² Burn Injury Research Unit, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
³ Queensland University of Technology (QUT), School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Health, Kelvin Grove, Queensland, Australia.
⁴ The Children's Hospital at Westmead Burns Unit, Kids Research Institute, Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Sydney Medical School, The University of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.
⁵ Children's Health Queensland, Queensland Children's Hospital, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.
⁶ Burn Injury Research Unit, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia; Burns Service of Western Australia, Perth Children's Hospital and Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, WA, Australia.
⁷ Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Faculty of Health, School of Biomedical Sciences, Centre for Children's Health Research, South Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. Electronic address: leila.cuttle@qut.edu.au.

PMID: 38490838
DOI: 10.1016/j.burns.2024.02.026

Abstract

Burn wound blister fluid is a valuable matrix for understanding the biological pathways associated with burn injury. In this study, 152 blister fluid samples collected from paediatric burn wounds at three different hospitals were analysed using mass spectrometry proteomic techniques. The protein abundance profile at different days after burn indicated more proteins were associated with cellular damage/repair in the first 24 h, whereas after this point more proteins were associated with antimicrobial defence. The inflammatory proteins persisted at a high level in the blister fluid for more than 7 days. This may indicate that removal of burn blisters prior to two days after burn is optimal to prevent excessive or prolonged inflammation in the wound environment. Additionally, many proteins associated with the neutrophil extracellular trap (NET) pathway were increased after burn, further implicating NETs in the post-burn inflammatory response. NET inhibitors may therefore be a potential treatment to reduce post-burn inflammation and coagulation pathology and enhance burn wound healing outcomes.

Keywords: Burn; Child; Inflammation; Neutrophil; Paediatric; Protein; Wound fluid.