A rat model of polymicrobial infection in full-thickness excision wounds.

Abstract Aim A reproducible animal model is required to study the pathophysiology of wound infections and for development of effective therapeutic interventions. The objective of this study was to produce an infected skin wound model utilizing the cecal microbiota in non-immunocompromised rats. Materials and methods An excision wound was created on the dorsal surface of rats and inoculated with different concentration of cecal slurry (CS). Wound progression was investigated macroscopically by wound scoring and imaging. The rats were sacrificed on day 6 and microbial load, myeloperoxidase activity, histopathology, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were performed in wound tissue. Results Inoculation of CS into excision wounds caused significantly (p Conclusion The study reports a reproducible and relevant clinical model of wound infection where cecal microbiota was used as a source of infection. This model can provide a suitable platform for evaluation of new therapeutic interventions.