Bioimmunoassays for tissue and
urokinase-type
plasminogen activators (t-pA and
u-pA), and
enzyme-linked
immunosorbent assays (ELISA) for t-pA were performed on biopsies from the edge and base of 15
venous ulcers.
TGF-beta 1, bFGF and PDGF were assessed by ELISA in the edge and base of 19 further
venous ulcers and 7 biopsies of normal skin. The presence of all three
growth factors and
u-pA was confirmed immunohistochemically. T-pA was detected using the ELISA and the bioimmunoassay, but was quantified in 3/15
ulcer bases and 4/15
ulcer edges using the bioimmunoassay only.
U-pA was measured in all
ulcer samples except one.
TGF-beta 1 was measured in 13/19
ulcer bases and 9/19 edges, while free
TGF-beta 1 was measured in only 2/19 bases and 4/19 edges.
Venous ulcer bases contain significantly greater quantities of
u-pA,
TGF-beta 1, and bFGF than
ulcer edges.
TGF-beta 1 was never detected in normal skin. There is significantly less bFGF in normal skin than in
venous ulcer bases, but not edges (p = 0.013, p = 0.31 respectively, Mann Whitney U-test). There was a good correlation between
ulcer edge
TGF-beta 1 and time to healing in ten
ulcers that healed within six months from the date of biopsy (r = -0.56, p = 0.065, Spearman Rank Correlation). There was a significantly greater amount of
ulcer edge bFGF in the
ulcers that healed within six months than those that remained unhealed (p = 0.036, Mann-Whitney U-test).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)