Purpose: To examine the expression of basic fibroblast growth factor in pterygia and determine whether mast cells contain basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) in this disease process.
Methods: Formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue samples of pterygia (n = 14) were used to study the expression of bFGF with immunohistochemistry. Seven samples were also double labeled with specific antibodies to bFGF and tryptase (a specific mast cell marker).
Results: In all tissue samples examined, bFGF was specifically localized in blood vessels, epithelium, and a subset of connective tissue cells. The majority of bFGF-positive connective tissue cells were also tryptase positive (90.4 +/- 3.6%). Nearly all the tryptase-positive cells (mast cells) in the pterygia tissues coexpressed bFGF (98 +/- 1.5%).
Conclusions: These findings suggest that bFGF may have biologic effects on the epithelium and blood vessels in pterygia, with epithelial and endothelial cells as a possible source. In addition, mast cells contain bFGF in the pterygia tissues examined in this study. The mast cells may serve as an additional source of bFGF, possibly modulating a variety of cell types as well as the extracellular matrix in pterygia.