Short term treatment of secondary lymphedema with hyaluronidase injections reduces mouse hindlimb lymphedema.
Farima DalaeiAmar BucanAlexander WiinholtMads Gustaf JørgensenChristian Rønn HansenChristina BaunSvend HvidstenEva Kildall HejbølHenrik Daa SchrøderJens Ahm SørensenPublished in: Journal of plastic surgery and hand surgery (2023)
Lymphedema is a common complication following breast cancer treatment with axillary lymphadenectomy and radiotherapy. Currently, there is no curative treatment for this disease, hence there is a need for new therapeutic suggestions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of hyaluronidase (HYAL) injections after inducing hindlimb lymphedema in 36 female C57BL/6 mice. HYAL injections were administered every second day for 14 days in three groups: (1) HYAL for 1 week followed by saline for 1 week, (2) HYAL for 2 weeks, and (3) saline injections for 2 weeks. Volume of the lymphedema limb was weekly assessed with micro-computed tomography (μ-CT) scans for a total course of 6 weeks. Lymph vessel morphometry was assessed in the end of the study after staining cross-sections of the hindlimb for anti-LYVE-1 blindly. Lymphatic function was assessed by lymphoscintigraphy to assess lymphatic clearance. There was a significant reduction of the volume of lymphedema in mice treated with HYAL-7 compared with mice treated with HYAL-14 (p < 0.05) and saline (p < 0.05). No differences were detected in lymph vessel morphometry and the lymphoscintigraphy between groups. Short-term treatment with HYAL-7 might be a potential therapeutic suggestion for secondary lymphedema induced in mouse hindlimbs. In the future, clinical studies are needed to investigate the potential of HYAL treatment in human beings.
Keyphrases
- computed tomography
- lymph node
- type diabetes
- magnetic resonance imaging
- squamous cell carcinoma
- endothelial cells
- platelet rich plasma
- positron emission tomography
- risk assessment
- magnetic resonance
- radiation therapy
- lymph node metastasis
- metabolic syndrome
- minimally invasive
- neoadjuvant chemotherapy
- preterm birth
- gestational age
- dual energy