Functional keratin is a biopolymer derived from sheep wool. Distinct from normal keratin, functional keratin has bioactive properties that suggested it would enhance chronic wound healing. Functional keratin has been demonstrated to stimulate skin cell proliferation, possess anti-inflammatory and anti-oxidant properties and enhance wound healing in animal models. To test acceptability and preliminary efficacy of three different functional keratin dressings (‘Gel’, ‘Foam’ and ‘Matrix’), twenty-two patients with non-healing venous and mixed arterial-venous chronic lower leg wounds were recruited to a non-randomized open-label clinical trial at Nurse Maude Wound Clinic, Christchurch, New Zealand.

Both patient and specialist wound care nurses completed questionnaires at each dressing change regarding dressing performance. Nurses also monitored the wound site for any adverse reactions. Healing improvement was monitored by digital photography weekly and evaluated by visual examination and measurement of wound size. Seventy-seven percent of the patients showed healing improvement and eighteen percent completely healed after eight to twelve weeks with the functional keratin-based dressings. Overall, ninety-one percent of the patients and eighty-six percent of nurses preferred the functional keratin-based dressings to their usual dressings. No adverse events were observed and the infection rate was normal. Given that only patients with chronic wounds that had not responded to other dressings were included in this study, the results were very encouraging and further studies are justified for the functional keratin-based dressings.

This study was sponsored by Keratec Ltd, Christchurch, New Zealand and Keraplast Technologies Ltd, San Antonio, TX, USA.