AgNOR STAINING: A DIAGNOSTIC TOOL FOR DETERMINING THE PROLIFERATION ACTIVITY OF FIBROBLASTS IN BIOSCAFFOLD ASSISTED HEALING

A battery of in vivo evaluations is done on bioscaffolds to ascertain its biocompatibility and host responses. Fibroblast proliferation in a controlled manner is integral part in scaffold assisted wound healing and tissue regeneration. Therefore, AgNOR staining was employed in this study for quantification of fibroblast proliferation and therefore evaluating the host bioscaffold response. Here full thickness skin wound healing studies were done in adult male New Zealand White rabbits using decellularized porcine cholecyst derived scaffolds (dPCS), scaffold supplemented with autologous bone marrow cells (dPCSM) and open wound control group (OW). The scaffolds were explanted seven and forteen days post implantation and were subjected to AgNOR staining. Statistical analysis showed significant variations between scaffold assisted and open wound healing. The study concluded that AgNOR could be used as a good quantitative marker involving fibroblast proliferation and could be used in primary screening of bioscaffold assisted healing and regeneration studies.