Effects of Growth Factors in rabbit's flexor tendon culture

Abstract

Growth factors have the ability to stimulate matrix synthesis and cell proliferation in rabbit flexor tendon. Maximal stimulation effects of growth factors have a wide variation. It depends upon the different anatomic site of tendon segment, kinds of growth factor, concentration of growth factors and time sequence. Since proliferation was an early component of intrinsic tendon healing, we investigated the short-term dose response to four different growth factors on in vitro rabbits tendon culture. We evaluated the various concentration effects of recombinant human insulin-like growth factor l(IGF), recombinant human epidermal growth factor(EGF), fibroblast growth factor(FGF), recombinant human plate-derived growth factor-BB(PDGF). Fetal calf serum was the most potent stimulator of cell proliferation and protein synthesis in vitro rabbits tendon culture. Matrix synthesis and cell proliferation were stimulated dose-dependently by IGF at doses between 50 and 150 ng/ml. The maximum mitogenic effect of EGF was observed at the concentration at 100ng/ml.(1.3 times over the media only culture control). The rabbits tendon was significantly dose-dependently responded to PDGF, whereas there was no significant response to FGF.