History | Science of Placental Tissues

An emerging role of human placental tissue for therapeutic use, including wound care and surgical applications

Human placental tissues, in the form of extracts and cell or tissue grafts, have been used for research and applied in clinical practice since the early 20th century.

First reported use by Davis, et al: Placental tissue grafting was superior to xenografts or cadaveric coverings

Early use in skin burns and ulcers reported lack of infection, decrease in pain and increased re-epithelialization

Publications began reporting use in multiple disciplines: Ophthalmology, burns and reconstructive surgery

Uptake in use for ophthalmology, with FDA approval in 2000. It would go on to be used routinely in ophthalmology for conjunctival reconstruction, burn treatment, glaucoma surgery

The increase in the use of placental tissue prompted improvements in tissue processing and the development of preservation techniques

More recently, further advancement of preservation technologies has allowed placental tissue products to become available for several different therapy areas due to longer storage times and the ability to test for communicable diseases.

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Banerjee J, Dhall S. Therapeutic benefits of treating chronic diabetic wounds with placental membrane allografts. In: Bagchi D, Das A, Roy S, eds. Wound Healing, Tissue Repair and Regeneration. Academic Press, Cambridge, MA, USA 2020:323–335.
Davis II JS. Skin grafting at the Johns Hopkins Hospital. Ann Surg. 1909;50(3):542–549.
Sabella N. Use of fetal membranes in skin grafting. Med Rec. 1913;83:478–80.
Silini AR, Cargnoni A, Magatti M, Pianta S, Parolini O. The long path of human placenta and its derivatives, in regeneration medicine. Front Bioeng Biotechnol. 2015;3:162.
Stern M. The grafting of preserved amniotic membranes to burned and ulcerated surfaces, substituting skin grafts. JAMA. 1913;60(13):973–974.