Investigation of Comparative Pharmacological Responsiveness of Rat Subcutaneous Fascia and Excisional Wound Granulation Tissues

In the present in vitro study, using superfusion technique, the pharmacological responsiveness of the excisional wound granulation tissue myofibroblasts to a variety of agents were compared with those of normal connective tissue taken from the superficial fascia. Bolus doses of angiotensin II (0.1 to 1000nM), mepyramine (1 to 128μM), calcium chloride (75 to 300μM) and potassium chloride (100 to 400μM) were added to the superfusate solution and the responses were recorded on Narco chart recorder. The results showed that both types of tissues have qualitatively similar characteristic responsiveness to potassium and calcium ions, mepyramine and angiotensin II. However, quantitatively, they were distinctly different, the myofibroblasts from granulation tissues produced greater contractile responses to mepyramine and angiotensin II, whilst they lost most of their responsiveness to potassium and calcium ions. The present study demonstrated that these tissues respond to pharmacological manipulation, but the responses they produce are distinct from smooth muscle cells and need to be considered further in experiments involving wound healing.