In-vivo plasma treatment of sheep skin wounds in veterinary medicine

The endogenous healing mechanisms, taking place in the mammalian skin, is sufficient to achieve repair of superficial wounds. However, in larger or chronic wounds, the functional skin repair is a difficult and long process [1,2]. In this contribution, the efficacy of plasma treatment on sheep skin wounds is shown, by comparison with several conventional and innovative topic treatments. Six skin lesions (4x4cm) were surgically created on the back of six healthy adult sheep. The wounds were treated with different therapies (plasma, hyaluronic acid, honey, acemannan, mesenchymal stem cells, control). The plasma source is made of a matrix of 16 RF low-power sources working at atmospheric pressure with helium as process gas [3]. Each source produce plasma within two metallic grids, the external of which is connected to ground for safety reasons. In this configuration, the application of plasma is thus indirect, being the helium metastables and the reactive chemical species, derived from the air which mixes with the helium flow, interacting with the skin tissues. Different types of investigations were performed, including clinical, molecular, histological and immune-histochemical analyses. Clinically, the lesions treated with plasma healed more rapidly with respect to the control and reduced bacterial load and reduced macerations were observed. From the second week onwards all wounds did not show presence of fluid and exhibited a dry secondary layer. However, the plasma treatment reached the optimal healing since the new tissue presented a mature organization and skin annexes. To sum up, the indirect plasma therapy led to satisfying results regarding regeneration of mammalian skin.