Understanding wound healing in obesity

Abstract

Obesity has become more prevalent in the global population. It is associated with the development of several diseases including diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, and metabolic syndrome. There are a multitude of factors impacted by obesity that may contribute to poor wound healing outcomes. With millions worldwide classified as obese, it is imperative to understand wound healing in these patients. Despite advances in the understanding of wound healing in both healthy and diabetic populations, much is unknown about wound healing in obese patients. This review examines the impact of obesity on wound healing and several animal models that may be used to broaden our understanding in this area. As a growing portion of the population identifies as obese, understanding the underlying mechanisms and how to overcome poor wound healing is of the utmost importance.

Keywords: Obesity; Wound healing; Adipokines; Tissue fibrosis; Diabetes; Preclinical animal models; Hypertrophic skin scarring; Wound tension; Metabolic syndrome

Core Tip: Obesity induces a chronic low-grade inflammatory state through increased release of adipokines, cytokines, and chemokines from excess adipose tissue. The chronic low-grade inflammation is thought to contribute to a dampened immune response during the inflammatory phase of wound healing leading to delayed wound healing. While there are several animal models used to study wound healing, they have not been widely applied to studying the effects of obesity on wound healing leading to a gap in the literature on this topic.