Small animal models of thermal injury

Abstract

Burns are a severe form of trauma that account for 1.1 million cases necessitating medical attention and 4500 mortalities annually in the United States alone. Importantly, the initial trauma is succeeded by extensive, prolonged physiological alterations that detrimentally impact multiple organ systems. Given the complexity of post-burn pathophysiology, in vitro experiments are insufficient to model thermal injuries. Therefore, compatible animal burn models are essential for studying burn-related phenomena. In this chapter, we discuss commonly employed small animal burn models and their comparability and applicability to human studies. In particular, we compare post-burn wound healing between the species as well as relevant hypermetabolic and inflammatory characteristics, providing a better understanding of the pros and cons of utilizing a small animal surrogate for human burns. We further provide an overview of the rodent scald burn model methodology as well as a comparison between elderly, aged and young animals, providing a guide for tailoring animal model choice based on the relevant research question.

Keywords: Burn; Rodent model; Scald; Small animals.

FIG. 1

Trajectory of murine healing after burn. Trichrome staining of murine skin at the site of injury at (A) 3days and (B) 14days indicates evidence of enhanced collagen deposition (blue) over the post-burn course.

FIG. 2

Standardized burn equipment. We utilize a (A) water bath set to 98 °C for our scald burn model. Mice are placed on the (B) burn mold with a standardized (C) burn mold aperture that corresponds with ~20–25% TBSA.