Regeneration of hair follicles from experimental wounds on the rabbit ear.

Abstract

Hair growth during wound healing was studied in experimental wounds treated with ordinary tape on the rabbit ear by scanning electron microscopy and conventional light microscopy. Operations were performed on the inner or/and outer side of both ears of the animals. Most wounds were treated with adhesive tape. Some wounds were allowed to remain open with exposure to the air. Adhesive tape was found to provide a good method of wound treatment. Tuft-like growth of hair was observed in the centre of the wounds, in 67% of the tape-treated wounds and in 38% of the open-treated wounds, probably representing true neoformation of hair follicles. It is evident that hair growth and perhaps neoformation of hair follicles is stimulated by adhesive tape treatment.