State of immunoreactive systems during healing of aseptic and infected experimental wounds

Abstract

Despite continuous interest in the problem of wounds and wound infections, and the abundance of publications devoted to its study, determination of the character" of the course of wound healing and therapeutic tactics have not been finally settled, and they continue to be topics for unceasing discussion [4, i0]. The functional state of the immunoreactive systems, both of the body as a whole and in the zone of wounding, exerts a considerable influence on the course of wound healing [7, ii]. Besides the study of the response of other systems, it is therefore essential to take account of genetically determined forms of immune response and of nonspecific reactive systems to stressors, which include both experimental and clinical wounds .The combined study of these mechanisms of response enabled approaches to the correction of cellular and humoral components determining the course of wound healing to be objectivized and pathogenetically based not only as regards the treatment of wounds, but also the prevention of their complications. Although this is such a promising approach, considerable difficulties arise in the path of its realization and, in our view, connected with the absence of any clear criteria of the dynamics of the parameters of immunoreactivity during development and healing of wounds at the present time, for the phenomenology of these principles has so far been described for suppurative wounds with many concomitant factors (diabetes, diversity of the microflora, heterogeneity of stages of the process, difference of localization, and so on). Meanwhile these changes also take place during "aseptic" healing of postoperative wounds and of everyday microtraumas. Consequently, the comparative study of immune changes in aseptic and suppurative wounds may shed light, on the basis of differences discovered, on those critical factors to which correct• ought to be directed. The aim of the present investigation was to study these matters.