Fibroblasts and eosinophils in normal fibroplasia of ferret vulval skin, shown by light and electron microscopy; with special reference to eosinophildegranulation
Eg. Bassett et Sj. Wakefield, Fibroblasts and eosinophils in normal fibroplasia of ferret vulval skin, shown by light and electron microscopy; with special reference to eosinophildegranulation, CONNECT TIS, 40(1), 1999, pp. 23
In order to compare aspects of normal fibroplasia with reports for patholog
ically fibrotic tissue, light and electron microscopic observations were ma
de on ferret vulval skin, which proliferates markedly with the onset of est
rus and regresses equally fast after mating. Estrous tissue, which containe
d hypertrophied fibroblasts, new collagen, elastic fibers and ground substa
nce, was invaded by numerous eosinophils with extensive release of granules
. Eosinophil degranulation was both extra- and intracellular; some cells, c
ompletely disintegrated, had released all contents into the extracellular m
atrix. Extruded granules reacted positively for major basic protein, In reg
ression, diminished fibroblasts incorporated collagen fibrils, Many of the
features seen in this normal fibroplasia in ferret vulval skin are similar
to those in pathologic situations. Thus, in particular, the presence of deg
ranulating eosinophils in pathologic fibrosis does not necessarily indicate
that they are the cause of the disease. Our information and that from othe
r sources implies a role for eosinophils in connective tissue change.