Uptake of Radiosulfur During the Healing of Surgical Wounds

Abstract

Abstract The feasibility of using the deposition of S35 in wounds as a measure of the rate of healing was investigated by administering isotopically labeled methionine, cystine, or sulfate to surgical patients. It was found that the level of S35 measurable at the surface of the wounds was higher when either methionine-S35 or cystine-S35 was given after wounding than when given before. More S35 was incorporated into the wound tissue when methionine was the source of the isotope than when labeled cystine supplied the S35. About 4-7 times as much S35 was detectable in the regenerating wound tissue within a few days after wounding, compared to S35 detectable in unaltered skin. Only a relatively small amount of sulfate-S35 was taken up by healing wound tissue. These results were obtained by the use of a technic which made it possible to measure repetitively, over a long period, the activity at the surface of the same sample of wound tissue.