Studies on Skin Fibroblasts of Patients with Idiopathic Scoliosis

Previous examinations of skin biopsies suggested that connective tissue may be abnormal in patients with idiopathic scoliosis. The fibroblast culture system has proven a powerful technique for approaching many diseases of known connective origin, and therefore, seemed an appropriate method with which to study scoliosis. Present observations on collagen synthesis, skin collagen extractability, and glycosaminoglycan (GAG) synthesis and degradation appear normal. Idiopathic scoliosis does not prove to be a generalized connective tissue disorder. While factors other than collagen and GAG metabolism seem not to be at fault, other possibilities seem not to be taken into consideration by basic research on the spinal column: genetics, biochemistry, and physiology.