Highlights

Chronic wounds, like venous leg and diabetic foot ulcers (see Figure 1), are wounds that do not heal in a timely fashion, generally two-to-four weeks. Chronic wounds can cause pain and discomfort and also limit mobility. They are often a consequence of a more serious health problem, such as diabetes, heart disease, or blood circulation disorders. Left untreated, chronic wounds can lead to problems like infection, amputation, or even death. At the same time, the cost of treatment can be staggering, estimated to be $5 - 10 billion annually eecting more than one million Americans.

Wounding disrupts the vascular network at the wound site, which causes the wound microenvironment to be hypoxic. The lack of oxygen in the wound can cause the wound to become chronic. Low levels of oxygen can increase the risk of infection, limit broblast growth and growth-factor production, and impair angiogenesis, which in the formation of blood vessels from existing vasculature. To promote the healing response of the tissue, doctors increase the oxygen concentration in the wound by administration of hyperbaric oxygen and by application of topical oxygen gas. Yet, ways to optimize the use of hyperbaric or topical oxygen, such as levels of oxygen concentration and frequency and duration of administration, are poorly understood as clinical success of these treatments varies.

In a collaboration between MBI Postdoctoral Fellow Richard Schugart, MBI Director Avner Friedman, and Director of the Comprehensive Wound Center at The Ohio State University Medical Center Chandan Sen, they have sought to nd optimal oxygen-dosing strategies to best promote dermal wound angiogen- esis. Through this collaboration, a mathematical model was developed, which consists of seven partial differential equations. The model takes into account many of the es- tablished biological components that contribute to the complex nature of wound healing, including the recruit- ment of in ammatory cells, chemoat- tractants, endothelial cells, oxygen tension, and the build up of ex- tracellular matrix in the wound re- gion. Simulations from the model (see Figure 2) agree with a vari- ety of experimentally-observed re- sults, which include: (i) extreme hy- poxia cannot sustain the growth of functional vessels; (ii) hyperoxia pro- motes wound angiogenesis and heal- ing; (iii) extreme hyperoxia derails tissue repair and causes oxygen tox- icity; (iv) intermittent oxygen treat- ment may stimulate an angiogenic re- sponse. Ongoing and future work in- cludes further exploration for optimal treatments with oxygen and expan- sion of the list of factors as the bi- ological complexities continue to be experimentally unveiled.