Wound repair and regeneration : official publication of the Wound Healing Society [and] the European Tissue Repair Society
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Fibrocytes are a unique leukocyte subpopulation implicated in wound healing. They are derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells, display fibroblast-like properties, and synthesize extracellular matrix macromolecules. This study investigated whether fibrocytes are present in healing burn wounds and whether the number of fibrocytes in tissue correlates with the degree of burn injury and the development of hypertrophic scar. ⋯ Fibrocytes were seen in scar tissue as dual-labeled spindle-shaped cells but were absent from normal skin. Moreover, the number of fibrocytes was higher in hypertrophic than in mature scar tissue. We conclude that fibrocytes, which have been reported to be antigen-presenting cells, are recruited to wounds following extensive burn injury and could potentially upregulate the inflammatory response and synthesize collagen and other matrix macromolecules, thus contributing to the development of hypertrophic scarring.