The local pathology of interstitial edema: Surface tension increases hydration potential in heat-damaged skin

Efficiency of cutaneous heat diffusion after local hyperthermia for the treatment of itch

BACKGROUND

Today, itching is understood as an independent sensory perception, which is based on a complex etiology of a disturbed neuronal activity and leads to clinical symptoms. The primary afferents (pruriceptors) have functional overlaps with afferents of thermoregulation (thermoceptors). Thus, an antipruritic effect can be caused by antagonizing heat-sensitive receptors of the skin. The ion channel TRP-subfamily V member 1 (TRPV1) is of particular importance in this context. Repeated heat application can induce irreversible inactivation by unfolding of the protein, causing a persistent functional deficit and thus clinically and therapeutically reducing itch sensation.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

To demonstrate relevant heat diffusion after local application of heat (45°C to 52°C for 3 and 5 seconds) by a technical medical device, the temperature profile for the relevant skin layer was recorded synchronously on ex vivo human skin using an infrared microscope.

RESULTS

The results showed that the necessary activation temperature for TRPV1 of (≥43°C) in the upper relevant skin layers was safely reached after 3 and 5 seconds of application time. There were no indications of undesirable thermal effects.

CONCLUSION

The test results show that the objectified performance of the investigated medical device can be expected to provide the necessary temperature input for the activation of heat-sensitive receptors in the skin. Clinical studies are necessary to prove therapeutic efficacy in the indication pruritus.

Age-dependent changes in brain hydration and synaptic plasticity

Aging in humans and animals is associated with gradual and variable changes in some cognitive functions, but what causes them and explains individual variations remains unclear. Hydration decreases with aging but whether dehydration contributes to cognitive dysfunction is not known. The brain hydration of aging mice was determined by colloidosmotic-pressure titration. Dehydration increased with age from ∼76 mmHg at 6 weeks to ∼105 mmHg at 40 weeks, or a progressive ∼10 percent loss of brain water but seemed to level off afterward. When we adjusted dehydration in hippocampal slices of <8-week-old mice to the levels seen in mice 40 weeks and older, their basal synaptic responses were amplified at all stimulus voltages tested, but induction of late-phase long-term potentiation was impaired. Our results document progressive brain dehydration with age in inbred mice to levels at which in vitro synaptic plasticity appears dysregulated. They also suggest that dehydration contributes to some of the changes in synaptic plasticity observed with aging, possibly due to adjustments in neuronal excitation mechanisms.

Collagen unfolding accelerates water influx, determining hydration in the interstitial matrix

In the interstitial matrix, collagen unfolding at physiologic temperatures is thought to facilitate interactions with enzymes and scaffold molecules during inflammation, tissue remodeling, and wound healing. We tested the hypothesis that it also plays a role in modulating flows and matrix hydration potential. After progressively unfolding dermal collagen in situ, we measured the hydration parameters by osmotic stress techniques and modeled them as linear functions of unfolded collagen, quantified by differential scanning calorimetry after timed heat treatment. Consistent with the hypothetical model, the thermodynamic and flow parameters obtained experimentally were related linearly to the unfolded collagen fraction. The increases in relative humidity and intensity of T(2) maps were also consistent with interfacial energy contributions to the hydration potential and the hydrophobic character of the newly formed protein/water interfaces. As a plausible explanation, we propose that increased tension at interfaces formed during collagen unfolding generate local gradients in the matrix that accelerate water transfer in the dermis. This mechanism adds a convective component to interstitial transfer of biological fluids that, unlike diffusion, can speed the dispersion of water and large solutes within the matrix.