Recent Advances in Experimental Burn Models

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Human burns are diverse and the most difficult injuries to study in clinical settings. Numerous experimental burn models designed to study and compare different aspects of burns and their consequences and treatment are steadily progressing. This review summarizes the latest advances in experimental burn research as a guide to aid in the future design of studies. ABSTRACT: Experimental burn models are essential tools for simulating human burn injuries and exploring the consequences of burns or new treatment strategies. Unlike clinical studies, experimental models allow a direct comparison of different aspects of burns under controlled conditions and thereby provide relevant information on the molecular mechanisms of tissue damage and wound healing, as well as potential therapeutic targets. While most comparative burn studies are performed in animal models, a few human or humanized models have been successfully employed to study local events at the injury site. However, the consensus between animal and human studies regarding the cellular and molecular nature of systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS), scarring, and neovascularization is limited. The many interspecies differences prohibit the outcomes of animal model studies from being fully translated into the human system. Thus, the development of more targeted, individualized treatments for burn injuries remains a major challenge in this field. This review focuses on the latest progress in experimental burn models achieved since 2016, and summarizes the outcomes regarding potential methodological improvements, assessments of molecular responses to injury, and therapeutic advances.