Gentherapie mit wachstumsfaktoren - Ein neuer therapeutischer ansatz für akute und chronische wunden?

Chronic wounds represent an increasing social and economic problem in our aging society. The multifactorial etiology of chronic wounds and the reasons for failure of traditional treatment methods have been shown in recent literature. The development of new therapeutical approaches with use of recombinant growth factors plays a pivotal role, and their use as gene therapy has become on of the most exciting fields in wound healing research. We give an overview over the molecular mechanisms of wound healing, explain the differences between acute and chronic wounds, and review the current status of gene therapy in wound healing.