1:Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine Unit. Hematology and Hemotherapy Department. Central University Hospital of Asturias (HUCA). Health Research Institute of Asturias (ISPA). Oviedo. 33011. Spain.

Hard-to-heal wounds are an important health problem that affects a large number of persons influencing their life-quality. Pressure ulcers are one type of injury that include into this category of hard-to-heal wounds. Conventional methods for the treatment of these ulcers not always offer satisfactory results. In order to search for new therapeutic alternatives, an animal model of pressure ulcer was developed. To treat these experimental ulcers, a plasma support embedding mononuclear bone marrow cells were designed; these cells were obtained from luminescent strain FVB/N-Tg (β-Actin-luc)-Xen mice donor mice. To verify the effectiveness of the supports, three groups were formed: a control group, which did not receive any type of treatment, a scaffold group to which only the support without cells was applied, and a scaffold + cells group that was treated with the support containing luminescent mononuclear cells. The evolution of the wounds was followed for one week and samples were obtained from all groups on the third and seventh day and analyzed by histological techniques. In addition, the ulcers were evaluated macroscopically during this period. As preliminary results of this study, it can be concluded that plasma-embedded mononuclear cells accelerate the ulcer healing process in this experimental model. This improvement could be observed both by the histological study, where a more organized formation of dermal tissue is observed and where the presence of donor luminescent cells was verified, as well as macroscopically, where a reduction in the size of the ulcer is observed.