Controlled delivery of bFGF to recipient bed enhances the vascularization and viability of an ischemic skin flap

Therapeutic angiogenesis is a promising approach to treat ischemic skin flaps. We delivered basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) to the recipient bed of a rat dorsal skin flap by a drug delivery system with acidic gelatin hydrogel microspheres (AGHMs), and assessed augmentation of neovascularization and flap viability. An axial skin flap was elevated on the back of male Sprague–Dawley rats, and bFGF solution or bFGF-impregnated AGHMs were injected into the recipient bed. The dose of bFGF in the bFGF solution was set to 15 (Sol-15 group), 50 (Sol-50 group), or 150 μg (Sol-150 group). Correspondingly, 2 mg AGHMs were impregnated with 15 (AGHM-15 group), 50 (AGHM-50 group), or 150 μg (AGHM-150 group) bFGF. Other groups of animals received phosphate-buffered saline (Sol-Cont group) or phosphate-buffered saline-impregnated AGHMs (AGHM-Cont group) as controls. Seven days later, analyses of the area of necrosis, microangiographic findings, and histological findings in the flap were carried out. The area of necrosis in the AGHM-150 group was significantly smaller than that in the other groups. Microangiographic and histological analyses showed that neovascularization of the ischemic skin flap significantly increased in the AGHM-150 group as compared with the Sol-150 group and the AGHM-Cont group. These findings suggest that continuous delivery of bFGF to the recipient bed by bFGF-impregnated AGHMs enhances the viability of an ischemic skin flap.