Evidence map›Paper›PMID 23990967›Full record

ArticlePloS one2013

Electrical stimulation promotes wound healing by enhancing dermal fibroblast activity and promoting myofibroblast transdifferentiation.

Mahmoud Rouabhia, Hyunjin Park, Shiyun Meng, Habib Derbali, Ze Zhang

Open access · goldAbstract read
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in PloS one, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 79 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
79citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
4.0field-weighted citation impact, top 6% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

79 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 189 citations in OpenAlex.

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  6. Advancements in Functional Polymeric Scaffolds for Scar-Free Skin Regeneration.Polymer science & technology (Washington, D.C.) · 2026
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19 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

5 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.

Mahmoud RouabhiaFaculty of Dentistry, Research Group on Oral Ecology, Laval University, Quebec City, Quebec, Canada.
Hyunjin Park
Shiyun Meng
Habib Derbali
Ze Zhang
Université Laval · CAChongqing Technology and Business University · CNHôpital Saint-François d'Assise · CA

Funding

Canadian Institutes of Health Research
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Electrical stimulation (ES) has long been used as an alternative clinical treatment and an effective approach to modulate cellular behaviours. In this work we investigated the effects of ES on human skin fibroblast activity, myofibroblast transdifferentiation and the consequence on wound healing. Normal human fibroblasts were seeded on heparin-bioactivated PPy/PLLA conductive membranes, cultured for 24 h, and then exposed to ES of 50 or 200 mV/mm for 2, 4, or 6 h. Following ES, the cells were either subjected to various analyses or re-seeded to investigate their healing capacity. Our findings show that ES had no cytotoxic effect on the fibroblasts, as demonstrated by the similar LDH activity levels in the ES-exposed and non-exposed cultures, and by the comparable cell viability under both conditions. Furthermore, the number of viable fibroblasts was higher following exposure to 6 h of ES than in the non-exposed culture. This enhanced cell growth was likely due to the ES up-regulated secretion of FGF-1 and FGF-2. In an in vitro scratch-wound assay where cell monolayer was used as a healing model, the electrically stimulated dermal fibroblasts migrated faster following exposure to ES and recorded a high contractile behaviour toward the collagen gel matrix. This enhanced contraction was supported by the high level of α-smooth muscle actin expressed by the fibroblasts following exposure to ES, indicating the characteristics of myofibroblasts. Remarkably, the modulation of fibroblast growth continued long after ES. In conclusion, this work demonstrates for the first time that exposure to ES promoted skin fibroblast growth and migration, increased growth factor secretion, and promoted fibroblast to myofibroblast transdifferentiation, thus promoting wound healing.

Indexed as

Cell TransdifferentiationActinsCell ProliferationCells, CulturedCell SurvivalDermisElectric StimulationEnzyme-Linked Immunosorbent AssayFibroblast Growth Factor 1Fibroblast Growth Factor 2FibroblastsHumansMicroscopy, FluorescenceMuscle, SmoothMyofibroblastsTime FactorsActinsFibroblast Growth Factor 1Fibroblast Growth Factor 2

Identifiers

PMID23990967
PMCPMC3747189
OpenAlexW1963636573

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.