After tendon injury, the formation of peritendinous adhesions restricts the gliding of the healed tendon. In this study, attempts have been made to reduce the amount of adhesions with four drugs. Four agents which are known to alter collagen biosynthesis were tested for their ability to inhibit scar formation in the repair of an incision in a tendon. a, a-dipyridyl, beta-aminopropionitrile, D-penicillamine and cis-hydroxyproline were all found to decrease the amount of scan formed around the flexor tendon. a, ?-dipyridyl showed significant toxic side effects. Rats treated with beta-am inopropionitnile showed moderate toxicity. D-penicillamine-treated rats showed minimum toxicity, but with the dose employed, this drug was slightly less effective than the others. Cis-hydroxyproline showed no toxic side effects in our experiments.
The inhibition of collagen biosynthesis by proline analogues is a new approach to the problem of reducing scar formation. Further study is needed before considering its use in clinical situations.