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ARS Home » Southeast Area » New Orleans, Louisiana » Southern Regional Research Center » Cotton Chemistry and Utilization Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #141174
Title: Design, Preparation, and Activity of Cotton-Based Wound Dressings for Chronic Wounds

Author
item Edwards, Judson - Vince
item BOPP, ALVIN - SUNO, NEW ORLEANS, LA
item YAGER, DORNE - MEDICAL COLLEGE OF VA
item COHEN, I - MEDICAL COLLEGE OF VA
item DIEGELMANN, ROBERT - MEDICAL COLLEGE OF VA

Submitted to: National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/16/2004
Publication Date: 6/15/2004
Citation: Edwards, J.V., Bopp, A., Yager, D.R., Cohen, I.K., Diegelmann, R.F. 2004. Design, Preparation, and Activity of Cotton-Based Wound Dressings for Chronic Wounds. National Cotton Council Beltwide Cotton Conference. p. 2399-2405.

Interpretive Summary: Chronic wounds are a major worldwide health problem. This research is directed at strengthening the role of cotton-based textiles in the growing market of high tech wound dressings. This paper demonstrates an important technology for development of value-added cotton-based wound dressings. An improvement on cotton gauze to accelerate healing in patients with bedsores and ulcers is the ultimate goal of this work. The paper shows how cotton gauze can be modified to reduce the activity of a destructive enzyme found to keep chronic wounds from healing. The destructive enzyme is human neutrophil elastate. High levels of elastase in the non-healing wound break down the recruitment of new tissue necessary for healing to take place. The advantage of this work suggests that a novel gauze modified with both anionic and aldehyde modifications may in the future be preferable over standard gauze widely used in hospitals and nursing homes at present. This preference is based on the mechanism of the molecular modifications, which promote uptake of elastase activity, and decreases the high levels of activity found to be destructive in the non-healing wound. The addition of intelligent cotton-based wound dressings to the market would boost cotton's share in the rapidly growing field of high tech wound care, and aid both the consumer and the cotton farmer by providing an economic value-added product.

Technical Abstract: Chronic wounds are a major worldwide health problem. Cotton gauze is a standard of care in the management of chronic wounds and is still routinely employed in hospitals and nursing homes for long term wound care. We consider in this paper molecular modifications of cotton gauze to improve chronic wound healing. The presence of elevated levels of elastase in non-healing wounds has been associated with the degradation of important growth factors and fibronectin necessary for wound healing. In the healing wound a balance of elastase and antiproteases prevents this degradation from taking place. Cotton cellulose modified to release elastase inhibitors or selectively sequester elastase would provide a gauze wound dressing that decreases high levels of destructive elastase found in the chronic wound.