In Quebec, skin transplant recipients completely reproduced in the laboratory

Mathieu Houle is seriously burned. He is one of 30 patients in Canada to have received a bilamellar skin graft, that is, skin reconstructed in the laboratory.

In August 2021, he returned home after a day of work in Drummondville. The mechanic went to shower, but he had brake cleaner on him. A candle was also lit in the bathroom. When the vapors came into contact with the smoke, there was an explosion in the room. Mathieu Houle’s body was 80% burned that day.

Only his face, the palms of his hands and the bottom of his feet were spared. He was immediately transferred to the Enfant-Jésus Hospital in Quebec. I was declared severely burned […] which made me a good candidate for LOEX.

The LOEX laboratory is also located within the walls of the immense Enfant-Jésus complex.

From a fragment of skin from the burned person, the size of a $2 coin researchers from Quebec have succeeded in reconstructing a tissue close to the original tissue.

Véronique Moulin, researcher at the LOEX Center at Laval University since 1998 and director of the Regenerative Medicine Axis, is one of the fifteen researchers behind this revolution in regenerative medicine.

From [ce fragment]we are able to isolate the cells, we put them in growth and we are able with our method to reconstruct skin which contains the two layers of the skin.

This technique helps people who are more than 50% burned.

These are patients who are so burned that they no longer have enough skin to be able to do autografts, so they are not capable of being cured.specifies the researcher.

A long process

Unlike autograft which can be done more quickly, bilamellar skin takes time. It takes about two months from the moment we receive skin in the laboratory to the first graft.illustrates Véronique Moulin.

Several operations followed. Mathieu Houle received autografts, but also three bilamellar skin grafts. The second operation I had was a large area of ​​the legs […]. Waking up from the operation was more difficult, it was much more painful.

The bilamellar skin is transported in small containers, like an organ transfer from the LOEX laboratory to the surgeon. Skin grafts are then scheduled weekly.

Fragile skin

Nearly three years after his operations, Mathieu Houle finds that his bilamellar skin is more defined, more flexible but she is also much more fragile.

Indeed, we rebuild skin, but it is not completeagrees Véronique Moulin.

It is skin that does not contain melanocytes […]the cells that protect from the sun’s rays. We are trying to see how we could add these cells which would allow us to have skin that protects itself from the sun.

Mathieu Houle explains that he must hydrate much more often and wear anti-UV clothing. Her skin is beautiful, […] I call it leopard skin. It is all spotted and pigmented, but, apart from these trivial details, I have life and health.

They made me beautiful as a burn victimadds Mathieu Houle, smiling and grateful.

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Around thirty patients across Canada have received bilamellar skin grafts, including around fifteen children.

Véronique Moulin mentions that one of the good surprises with this graft is its ability to stretch, an advantage for children, she says.

When they grow with the autograft, the skin doesn’t stretch, so they regularly go back for surgery to loosen the skin… Whereas the skin produced is able to grow, so they don’t need to have surgery. operate again.

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The Quebec LOEX laboratory continues its research work to try to reduce the two-month time limit for producing the skin.

Around fifteen researchers are working on other projects such as the manufacture of epithelium [le dessus de la cornée] supervised by Dr. Lucie Germain. It’s in clinical trials and it’s something that we hope to make equally accessible to everyone.adds Véronique Moulin.