Work

Inflammation and neuropeptides: the connection in diabetic wound healing

Year: 2009

Type: review

Abstract: Abnormal wound healing is a major complication of both type 1 and type 2 diabetes, with nonhealing foot ulcerations leading in the worst cases to lower-limb amputation. Wound healing requires the integration of complex cellular and molecular events in successive phases of inflammation, cell proliferation, cell migration, angiogenesis and re-epithelialisation. A link between wound healing and the nervous system is clinically apparent as peripheral neuropathy is reported in 30-50% of diabetic patients and is the most common and sensitive predictor of foot ulceration. Indeed, a bidirectional connection between the nervous and the immune systems and its role in wound repair has emerged as one of the focal features of the wound-healing dogma. This review provides a broad overview of the mediators of this connection, which include neuropeptides and cytokines released from nerve fibres, immune cells and cutaneous cells. In-depth understanding of the signalling pathways in the neuroimmune axis in diabetic wound healing is vital to the development of successful wound-healing therapies.

Source: Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine

DOI: 10.1017/s1462399409000945

Authors: Leena Pradhan, Christoph Nabzdyk, Nicholas D. Andersen, Frank W. LoGerfo, Aristidis Veves

Institutions: Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Harvard University, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, Charité – Universitätsmedizin Berlin

Language: English

Topic: Wound Healing and Treatments

Subfield: Surgery

Field: Medicine

Domain: Health Sciences

SDG: Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funders: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke