Controlled Partial Skin Thickness Burns: Rabbit Ear as a 2nd Degree Burn Wound Model for Studies of Topical Therapy

This study was designed to prepare an animal model for partial thickness bum wound which can be employed for testing topical therapy. We first evaluated whether rabbit ear and mouse back skin wound model could differentiate the wound healing process in terms of degree of re epithelialization, required days for complete wound closure, presence of scarring. $2^{nd}$ degree wet bum were prepared on mouse back skin and rabbit ear by applying 5 mL hot water($85{\pm}0.1^{\circ}C$) for 7 see followed by 5 mL ice-cold 0.5% acrynol solution for cooling and disinfecting the inflicted area. After removing the dead epidermis layer at 24 hr, tested dressings were applied for specified time and wound progression was investigated. In mouse model, wound contraction was the primary wound closing mechanism, which is quite different from human wound healing process. In rabbit ear model, epidermal regeneration was the major wound healing process rather than wound contraction and the difference in wound healing property among tested dressings could be clearly demonstrated. A rabbit ear model could differentiate the wound progression among open, occluded and epidermal growth factor(EGF) treated wound. Four sites of circular wound(diameter: 1 cm) on the anterior part of rabbit ear could be employed for the comparative wound healing study. For obtaining reproducible bum wound, degree of bum depth and bum sites should be carefully controlled in addition, employing rabbits of same strain and weight. The result suggests that rabbit ear could be employed as a reliable and human-resembled wound model.