Effects of low frequency pulsed electrical current on keratinocytes in vitro

The effects of low frequency pulsed electrical current on epidermal repair in vitro were examined. Charge‐balanced current stimuli proposed for chronic wound treatment were tested on skin keratinocytes cultured at an air‐liquid interface on dead human dermis. Results imply that the balance between proliferation and differentiation in electrically treated samples is significantly modified in favor of differentiation. More advanced differentiation, shown through epidermal histology, was obtained in cultures exposed to electrical current, whereas the culture growth, the result of keratinocyte migration and proliferation, was greater in control samples. Bioelectromagnetics 18:250–254, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.