Collagenase‐assisted wound bed preparation: An in vitro comparison between Vibrio alginolyticus and Clostridium histolyticum collagenases on substrate specificity

Bacterial collagenase from the aerobic non‐pathogenic Vibrio alginolyticus chemovar iophagus is an extracellular metalloproteinase. This collagenase preparation is obtained through a fermentation process and is purified chromatographically, resulting in a highly purified 82‐kDa single‐band protein that does not contain non‐specific proteases or other microbial impurities. V. alginolyticus collagenase was added to a hyaluronan (HA)‐based device to develop a novel debriding agent to improve the treatment of ulcers, necrotic burns, and decubitus in the initial phase of wound bed preparation. In this study, an in vitro biochemical characterisation of V. alginolyticus collagenase versus a commercial preparation from a Clostridium histolyticum strain on various dermal extracellular matrix (ECM) substrates was performed. V. alginolyticus collagenase demonstrated its ability to carry out the enzymatic cleavage of the substrate, allowing a selective removal of necrotic tissues while sparing healthy tissue, as reported in clinical studies and through routine clinical experience. in vitro tests under physiological conditions (pH, presence of Ca++, etc.) have demonstrated that V. alginolyticus collagenase exhibits very poor/limited non‐specific proteolytic activity, whereas the collagenase preparation from C. histolyticum is highly active both on collagen and on non‐collagenic substrates. This finding implies that while the V. alginolyticus enzyme is fully active on the collagen filaments that anchor the necrotic tissue to the wound bed, it does not degrade other minor, but structurally important, components of the dermal ECM. This feature could explain why collagenase preparation from V. alginolyticus has been reported to be much gentler on perilesional, healthy skin.