The Use of Athymic Nude Mice for the Study of Human Keloids

Abstract

Keloid tissue has been implanted in the athymic nude mouse in order to develop an experimental animal model for the study of human keloids and hypertrophic scars. Untreated keloid tissues maintained essentially the same morphological patterns and glycosaminoglycan distributions for at least 60 days after implantation in the athymic mice. Normal human skin implanted in the same way was maintained without change in glycosaminoglycan distribution or morphologic characteristics. We suggest that this model may be useful for basic research of keloids and hypertrophic scars in that it will allow studies of morphologic, biochemical and therapeutic interrelationships under controlled conditions.