Increased expression of basic fibroblast growth factor in skin of patients with systemic sclerosis

Increased collagen deposition is a hallmark of systemic sclerosis (SSc). Several fibrogenic cytokines play a role in this sclerosis. The role of basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), the most potent fibrogenic cytokine, is poorly understood in SSc. Skin biopsies from forearm of 13 patients with SSc and 3 normal individuals were analyzed by immunohistochemistry using avidin biotin-system to amplify the signal. In addition serum levels of bFGF were also measured in 30 patients including these 13 and 23 healthy controls. Thirteen patients with SSc were all females and had a median age of 26.5 years, median disease duration of 2.25 years. Of these thirteen, seven had diffuse and six had limited disease. The skin biopsies from patients showed increased expression of bFGF in the basal layer of epidermis, dermis (periappendageal, perivascular, matrix tissue) as compared to normal tissues. The expression of bFGF did not correlate with duration of disease or skin score. In contrast, only low levels of bFGF were detectable in 4/30 sera from SSc patients as compared to 3/23 from healthy controls (p = ns). Overexpression of bFGF in skin of patients with SSc along with normal serum levels suggests that bFGF probably acts in an autocrine or paracrine manner in fibrogenesis.