PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - C. William Hanke AU - Wilma F. Bergfeld AU - Marcelle N. Guirguis AU - L. James Lewis TI - Hyaluronic acid synthesis in fibroblasts of prétibial myxedema DP - 1983 Jun 20 TA - Cleveland Clinic Journal of Medicine PG - 129--132 VI - 50 IP - 2 4099 - http://www.ccjm.org/content/50/2/129.short 4100 - http://www.ccjm.org/content/50/2/129.full SO - Cleve Clin J Med1983 Jun 20; 50 AB - Hyaluronic acid production by fibroblasts from skin lesions of prétibial myxedema (PTM) and also from normal control skin was studied in tissue culture. Normal control fibroblasts produced increased amounts of hyaluronic acid when serum from patients with PTM was used to supplement the tissue culture medium. Further increases in hyaluronic acid synthesis were noted when PTM fibroblasts were incubated with normal human serum, and when PTM fibroblasts were incubated with serum from patients with PTM. These results suggest that a serum factor is operative in patients with PTM, and that this serum factor can influence the production of hyaluronic acid in both normal controls and PTM fibroblasts. This increased production of hyaluronic acid by fibro-blasts may be a major factor in the pathogenesis of PTM.