DIFFERENCES IN PROLIFERATIVE RATE AND COLLAGEN LATTICE CONTRACTION BETWEEN ENDOTENON AND SYNOVIAL FIBROBLASTS

Injured and surgically repaired tendons heal with the formation of sca r tissue. Scar tissue represents 1 of the most unpredictable factors c ontributing to postoperative morbidity. The main cell involved in scar formation is the fibroblast. The relative activity of fibroblasts fro m the fibro-osseous sheath (the tissue surrounding the tendon in zone II) and the endotenon (the core of the tendon) with respect to prolife ration and the ability to contract a collagen lattice were compared in vitro. The fibroblasts derived from the fibro-osseous sheath were mor e active in both these respects. In addition, the amount of matrix met alloproteinase activity was found to be greater for the fibro-osseous sheath fibroblasts, implying a greater capacity to degrade and disorga nize connective tissue and thus migrate. These results imply that the fibro-osseous fibroblasts represent a more active population of cells compared with endotenon fibroblasts, and perhaps should be specificall y targeted in future modes of therapy. Copyright (C) 1998 by the Ameri can Society for Surgery of the Hand.