Radiation Fibrosis of Guinea Pig Skin after β Irradiation and an Attempt at Its Suppression with Proline Analogs

Abstract

The skins of adult, male albino guinea pigs were irradiated with a dose of 3500-rad ..beta.. rays from a /sup 90/Sr-/sup 90/Y sealed source on 25 x 25-mm flank areas. Abnormal collagen deposition (fibrosis) occurred between the first and fourth months as evidenced by the replacement of the normal thick random whorls of collagen fibers by embryonic-like thin fibers parallel to the hyperplastic epidermis. These histologic changes were confined primarily to about 0.4 mm of upper dermis. By the fourth month and up to 2.5 years postirradiation, there was a decreased content of acid-soluble and -insoluble collagen in the irradiated upper dermis concomitant with an increase in noncollageneous protein. With the exception of occluded arterioles in the lower dermis, there were no obvious chemical or histological changes in collagen of remaining dermis. Injection for 4 months or longer of the proline analogs, DL-3,4-dehydroproline, L-azetidine-2-carboxylic acid, or cis-4-hydroxy-L-proline significantly decreased the small amount of metabolically active soluble collagen but had no effect on the content of insoluble fibrous collagen nor the abnormal deposition of collagen fibers in the upper dermis. The data indicate that the proline analogs are of little or no value in suppressing radiation fibrosis in skin.