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Animal models have been developed to study the complex cellular and biochemical processes of wound repair and to evaluate the efficacy and safety of potential therapeutic agents. Several factors can influence wound healing. These include aging, infection, medications, nutrition, obesity, diabetes, venous insufficiency, and peripheral arterial disease. Lack of optimal preclinical models that are capable of properly recapitulating human wounds remains a significant translational challenge. Animal models should strive for reproducibility, quantitative interpretation, clinical relevance, and successful translation into clinical use. In this concise review, we discuss animal models used in wound experiments including mouse, rat, rabbit, pig, and zebrafish, with a special emphasis on impaired wound healing models.

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Wound management involves repeated clinical trips and procedures of lab tests over days. To eliminate this time lag and provide real-time monitoring of a wound's progress, we have designed an enzymatic biosensor for determining uric acid (UA) in wound fluid. Uric Acid is a biomarker, having an established correlation with wounds and their healing. This electrochemical biosensor comprises enzyme urate oxidase (uricase, UOx) entrapped in a polyvinyl alcohol based cationic polymer for enhanced stability. Results show that the use of a redox electron shuttle, ferrocene carboxylic acid (FCA), enabled electron transfer between the enzyme and the transducer. The immobilized uricase in the polymer matrix provided stable continuous measurements at body temperature for a week with minimal deviation. Detection of uric acid in wound fluid has been determined from volumes as low as 0.5-50μL. Studies from different wound samples have shown an average recovery of 107%. The sensor has been interfaced with LMP91000 potentiostat and controlled by CC2650 microcontroller on a Kapton tape-based miniaturized flexible platform.

Background: Various facial and extrafacial lesions have been reported in frontal fibrosing alopecia (FFA). Facial papules have been associated with worse prognosis. Objectives: We sought to detect the prevalence of facial and extrafacial lesions and to analyze their relation to demographic and clinical variables in a large and ethnically diverse series of patients with FFA. Methods: Charts of patients diagnosed with FFA between January 1, 2015, and December 31, 2017, at the Department of Dermatology, University of Miami, were reviewed retrospectively. Results: 91 patients (87 women and 4 men) met inclusion criteria: 45% (n = 41) were of Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, and 34% (n = 30) were premenopausal. Facial papules were most commonly detected (41% among Hispanic/Latino patients). Significant associations were found between: (1) Hispanic/Latino ethnicity and any FFA-associated facial lesions, facial papules alone, or lichen planus pigmentosus alone, as well as premenopausal status; (2) any FFA-associated facial lesions or facial papules alone and premenopausal status; and (3) Hispanic/Latino ethnicity and simultaneous presence of facial and extrafacial lesions. Conclusions: There is a significant association among Hispanic/Latino ethnicity, facial papules, and premenopausal status, which may portend a susceptibility to severer disease and prompt early and aggressive treatment in this group.