Accelerated non-muscle contraction after subarachnoid hemorrhage: cerebrospinal fluid testing in a culture model

The cause of chronic cerebral vasospasm after subarachnoid hemorrhage has been studied intensively, but it is still controversial whether the observable luminal narrowing should be attributed to the contraction of vascular smooth muscle cells or whether it results from some organic change in the wall. A proliferation of myointimal cells, accompanied by increased deposition of collagen, as well as myonecrosis, have been frequently observed several days after aneurysm rupture. Studies from our laboratory showed that these myointimal cells had characteristics identical to myofibroblasts. In this study, we quantitatively and morphologically examined the effect of cerebrospinal fluid on the ability of myofibroblasts to alter collagen matrices using an in vitro model. Myofibroblasts contract the collagen matrix by rearranging or compacting the framework of collagen fibers. Cerebrospinal fluid obtained from patients with recently ruptured aneurysms significantly accelerated lattice contraction, especially when the patient developed symptomatic vasospasm. This study suggests that myofibroblasts in the spastic artery can produce a contractile force that contributes to chronic vasospasm, tightening the proliferated collagen. Some unknown agent present in bloody cerebrospinal fluid accelerates the rearrangement of the collagen lattice by myofibroblasts, both of which have, until now, been considered non-contractile components.