Evaluations of fibroblast apoptosis in the stress-deprived patellar tendon in vivo

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The effect of stress deprivation on the tendon tissue has been an important focus in the field of biomechanics. Rabbits were divided into stress-shielded, sham-operated, and control groups. To completely shield the patellar tendon from stress, we used an established surgical method. Both the number and the ratio of TUNEL-, caspase-3-, JNK-, and p38-positive cells were significantly greater (p<0.0001) in the stress-shielded group than in the sham group at 24h, 2, and 4 days. This study demonstrated that complete stress deprivation induces fibroblast apoptosis in vivo with activation of JNK and p38 within 24h. This fact suggested that the fibroblast apoptosis caused by stress deprivation is induced via the mitogen-activated protein kinase signaling pathway.