Inhibition of Peyronie's plaque fibroblast proliferation by biologic agents

Peyronie's disease is a fibromatosis of the tunica albuginea which affects up to 2% of men. Plaque development is believed to result, at least in part , from fibroblast proliferation and excess collagen deposition. Numerous or al and intralesional therapies have been used, including verapamil, colchic ine and steroids. The purpose of this study was to investigate the in vitro effects of prostaglandin-E1 (PGE1), verapamil and colchicine on the prolif eration rates of fibroblasts derived from Peyronie's disease tissue. Using tissue culture, multiple cell lines comprising fibroblasts from Peyro nie's plaque, normal tunica and foreskin were established. Cells of low pas sage were removed from the parent culture and incubated with varying concen trations of PGE1 (0.1-10 mg/ml), verapamil (10-1000 mg/ml), and colchine (2 .5 mg/ml). Proliferation was assessed at 48, 72 and 96 hours using the Vybr ant(TM) MTT cell proliferation and then compared to control cells. Six plaque lines and 5 normal tunical cell lines were established. These ce ll lines exhibited excellent linear growth in culture media alone. Co-cultu re with PGE1 resulted in no significant inhibition at 0.1 and 1 mg/ml, but a mean inhibition of 60.6 +/- 11.5% at a concentration of 10 mg/ml was note d. Similar inhibition was noted with verapamil at 100 and 1000 mg/ml with a mean inhibition of 65.2 +/- 10.6%. Colchicine resulted in a mean inhibitio n of 28% at a concentration of 2.5 mg/ml. Maximum inhibition occurred at 96 hours in all cases. There was no statistically significant difference in p roliferation rates between plaque and normal tunical cell lines. We have developed an in vitro model to assess the effects of biologically a ctive agents on the growth of fibroblasts derived from Peyronie's disease t issue. Our data suggests that PGE1, verapamil, and colchicine inhibit in vi tro proliferation of fibroblasts at specific concentrations. Refinement and application of this knowledge may allow the development of useful pharmaco logic strategies for men with PD.