A commentary on “Age-associated differences in macrophage response in a vaginal wound healing rat model”

Excerpt

This basic science animal study [1] was aimed at investigating the effect of age on inflammatory processes, specifically the macrophage response, involved in vaginal wound healing. A total of 25 young virgin female Fischer rats (12 weeks old) and 25 old rats (12 months), underwent a standardized 9-mm posterior midline vaginal incision. Tissue samples were taken for histological analysis on days 1, 3, 7, 14, and 30 post-injury. At each time point, 5 rats were included in each experimental group. The parameters evaluated included the wound area, macrophage number, and expression of inflammatory markers, including tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS), CCR7/CD197, arginase I, and CD163/M130. …