Morphological and morphometric study of cultured fibroblast from treated and untreated abnormal scar

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the morphology of cultured fibroblasts derived from abnormal scars and compare it to those of human normal skin.

METHODS: This study was carried out in the Surgical Clinic, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdul-Aziz University, Jeddah, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia between December 2008 and March 2010. Fifty-two samples of hypertrophic and keloid scar were collected. An in vitro study was conducted in which fibroblasts from normal foreskin; abnormal scars were cultured, studied morphologically and morphometrically.

RESULTS: There was a highly significant increase in the length and breadth of fibroblasts from the hypertrophic and keloid scars, and highly significant decrease in the bipolarity index compared to control. There was a significant increase in the mean cell area, mean nuclear area and nuclear/cytoplasmic ratio of fibroblast of hypertrophic and keloid scars compared to control. There was a significant decrease in the mean cell area and mean nuclear area of the fibroblast of the treated keloid scar (with all used modalities) compared to untreated ones. Morphologically, abnormal scar fibroblasts has abundant spreading cytoplasm with numerous processes and large nuclei. The cytoplasm, of some cells, contained clumped granules in the peri-nuclear region, numerous vacuoles, and dense vesicles.

CONCLUSION: Morphological and morphometric study showed that hyperactive cultured fibroblasts was a characteristic feature of abnormal scars and the studied modalities of treatment reduced, but not completely nullify this activity.