Treatment of Keloid Scars with Botulinum Toxin A Versus Triamcinolone in an Athymic Nude Mice Animal Model

Background: Keloid scarring is a serious condition that mostly affects patients of African or Asian descent. Often disfiguring, this condition can have devastating psychosocial consequences. To date, no treatment modality has been proven ideal. Our objectives were 1. To determine the efficacy of botulin toxin A injection for the treatment of keloid scars compared to steroid injection and to control saline injection. This was achieved through a basic science animal model using athymic nude mice and implanted human keloid tissue. 2. To analyze the histopathological changes that occur in an organized keloid scar following botulinum toxin A injection as compared to steroid and saline injections. Methods: Keloid scars from four patients were excised and implanted subcutaneously into 28 mice. Three small keloid tissue samples were implanted in each of the 28 mice. One week after implantation, each implant received one of three injections: botulinum toxin A (treatment drug), saline (control) or steroid injection (first line gold standard). The keloid tissue was extracted three weeks post implantation. Weight analysis, immunohistochemistry, and standard hematoxylin and eosin (H&E) pathology were performed on each extracted tissue sample. Results: Pre-post tissue weights paired t-test analysis revealed a statistically significant difference between the treatment and control groups (p

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