Responsiveness of Dupuytren's disease fibroblasts to 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone.

PURPOSE: We recently showed that androgen receptors are expressed in Dupuytren's contracture. The aim of the present work was to test the responsiveness of Dupuytren's fibroblasts to 5 alpha-dihydrotestosterone (5 alpha-DHT), the active form of testosterone.

RESULTS: Cultured palmar fascia cells from 10 patients with Dupuytren's contracture and 4 normal subjects were exposed to 5 alpha-DHT (10 or 100 ng/mL) for 1, 3, 7, and 15 days. Their phenotype was analyzed immunohistochemically for alpha-smooth muscle actin and androgen receptor expression and proliferation rates were studied.

RESULTS: At 15 days the higher concentration of 5 alpha-DHT induced an increase in Dupuytren's fibroblast proliferation, whereas anti-alpha-smooth muscle actin exhibited the strongest expression. At the same time point androgen receptor expression decreased with the lower concentration and disappeared altogether with the higher dose of 5 alpha-DHT.

CONCLUSIONS: The palmar fascia is a target tissue for androgen action via androgen receptors. Further studies are required to determine whether control of androgen receptor may control the evolution of Dupuytren's disease.