Accelerated healing of chronic sickle-cell leg ulcers treated with RGD
peptide matrix. RGD Study Group
DL Wethers, GM Ramirez, M Koshy, MH Steinberg, G Phillips , RS Siegel, JR Eckman and JT Prchal
St. Lukes/Roosevelt Hospital, Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center, New York,
NY 10025.
Leg ulcers are a chronic manifestation of sickle-cell disease (SCD) and are
often painful, disabling, and difficult to treat. RGD peptide matrix
treatment is a novel therapy designed to provide a topical synthetic
extracellular matrix that can act as a temporary substitute for the damaged
natural matrix at the ulcer site. In this randomized, placebo-controlled,
double-blind, prospective, multicenter investigation, SCD patients with
full-thickness leg ulcers were treated with standard therapy plus RGD
peptide matrix or saline placebo once weekly for up to 10 weeks. Healing in
patients with chronic ulcers (2 months or greater in duration) was
significantly accelerated (P = .0085) in RGD peptide matrix recipients
compared with the placebo group. In these chronic ulcer cases, the average
percent ulcer closure (decrease in ulcer surface area) in the RGD peptide
matrix group (54.4% +/- 8.9%) exceeded that in the placebo group (19.0% +/-
24.3%) nearly threefold by study endpoint. Furthermore, RGD peptide matrix
was equally effective in promoting healing of long persistent ulcers and
ulcers of shorter duration. In contrast, standard therapy plus placebo was
significantly less effective (P = .001) in promoting healing for ulcers of
progressively greater duration. The results of this study provide
preliminary evidence that RGD peptide matrix treatment may significantly
accelerate healing of chronic sickle-cell leg ulcers.
Volume 84,
Issue 6,
pp. 1775-1779,
09/15/1994
Copyright © 1994 by The American Society of Hematology
