Ultrastructure study of skin fibroblasts in patients with ehlers-danlos syndrome (EDS): preliminary results

Aim of the study. To investigate, in vivo and in vitro, the fibroblast-to-myofibroblast transition in patients with hypermobile Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome (EDS). To analyze the dermis of patients with classical form of EDS (cEDS) and with hEDS, to identify qualitative and/ or quantitative differences in ECM component and ultrastructural changes in collagen. Materials and methods. Seven subjects, aged over 18, two with cEDS and five with hEDS underwent two skin biopsy. One sample was prepared for transmission electron microscopy (TEM), the other for immunofluorescence. The diameter of collagen fibers was measured with TEM. Fibrils were analyzed in four patients: the two with cEDS and two with hEDS. For each patient, the diameter of n=250 collagen fibrils was measured. αSMA was used as specific marker for myofibroblast to highlight their presence in vivo in the skin of patients with hEDS. Results. IF observation could not assess an increased expression of αSMA in hEDS patients, which showed no statistical difference compared to classic form patients. The major result from the analysis of TEM images is the clear difference in ECM composition between the two forms of EDS: ECM in hEDS is optically more dense and more prominently composed of elastic fibers. Conclusions. Our study provides the following important evidence: 1) the absence in vivo of dermal fibroblasts in patients with hEDS, demonstrated by αSMA negativity; 2) the presence of statistically significant changes in the diameter of collagen fibrils between the classic and the hypermobile forms.