Representing 60% of the human body’s dry weight, collagen is part of all connective tissue, from the membranes of the eyes, to the fibrous material of the bones. Collagen has a variety of functions within cell activity and organizational matrices for the skin. There are at least 29 types of collagen. The most common type is Type I Collagen, which is part of the skin, tendons and bones.
WHAT MAKES COLLAGEN BENEFICIAL IN THE WOUND HEALING PROCESS?
When correctly designed collagen topical wound care products are ideal to support the management of wounds. Our topical collagen products were formulated to keep wounds moist, while absorbing excessive exudate that may impair wound healing. Myriads of peer review articles have demonstrated that structurally intact Type I Collagen binds to several excessive proteases and inflammatory cytokines within exudates of chronic wounds, including neutrophil elastase, MMP-2, Interleukin IL -6, IL-8 and IL-1β.
Our products were designed specifically to manage exudate absorption while maintaining a moist wound environment. This capability within the management of wounds is known to create an environment for optimal cell growth, eliminate wound conditions that may impede assimilation and bioavailability fibroblast activity, help maintain chemical microenvironment and thermostatic conditions beneficial to wound care, while inhibiting or deactivating excessive matrix metalloproteinases (exudate).
WHAT SOURCES OF COLLAGEN ARE MOST SUITABLE FOR THE TREATMENT OF WOUNDS?
The sequence of the amino acids chain in bovine collagen is very similar to the sequence of human collagen. In fact, the genetic difference between bovine and human collagen is only 5%.
NOT ALL COLLAGEN THAT IS PRODUCED IS EQUAL
FORMULATION, STRUCTURE and FUNCTION: The technical specifications of our medical devices are structurally formulated to maintain the integrity of the collagen intact without denaturation allowing our products to absorb large amounts of exudate. During the formulation and manufacturing of collagen topical wound care products it is important to preserve the chemical and structural characteristics of the collagen itself. Certain products that are on the market, such as denatured or hydrolyzed collagen, have had their original molecular structure altered. While these altered collagen products have been designed to offer certain benefits, at the same time, they lose certain beneficial properties of naturally intact collagen.