Wound Healing Grafts: omega-3 Fatty Acid Lipid Content Differentiates the Lipid Profiles of Acellular Atlantic Cod Skin from Traditional Dermal Substitutes

Abstract Body: Acellular fish skin (ACS) has emerged as a dermal substitute used to promote wound healing with decreased scar formation and pain relief that may be due to poly-unsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) content (1). However, the PUFA content of ACS is still unknown. AIM: To compare the total fatty acids and lipid profiles of ACS to two bovine based grafts and standard of care human cadaver skin (HCS). A secondary goal was to assess the capability of ACS lipid content to enhance wound healing. METHODS: Free fatty acid analysis was performed with GC-FID and a LC-MS untargeted method was developed in order to the analyze the lipid profiles of the grafts. The enhancement of wound healing by the ACS extract was investigated in vitro on HaCat cells. RESULTS: ACS had highest content of PUFA (27.0±1.43% of their total fatty acids), followed by HCS (20.6±3.9%). The two grafts of bovine origin presented insignificant PUFA amounts. The majority of the PUFAs found in ACS were omega-3 and in HCS they were omega-6. The untargeted lipidomics analysis demonstrated that ACS grafts were characterized by phosphatidylcholine containing either 20:5 or 22:6 omega-3 PUFA. The ACS lipid extract increased the HaCat cells migration and enhanced wound closure 4h earlier versus control. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: ACS has a lipid profile that is distinct from other wound healing grafts and this may have a positive influence on wound healing outcomes through enhanced wound closure. It was also demonstrated that PUFAs are maintained in ACS post processing as phosphatidylcholine.