Collagen types and anticollagen-antibodies in Dupuytren's disease.

The relative proportion of collagen type I and type III in the aponeurosis of twenty-four patients with Dupuytren's disease was determined and compared with the aponeurosis of normal persons. The presence of considerable amounts of type III collagen was found in the Dupuytren's disease patients. The sera of the patients were screened for circulating anti-collagen antibodies using a sensitive radioimmunoassay. In seven out of the twenty-four patients low concentrations of these antibodies were found.