After tendon rupture repair, the healing tendon tissue is characterized by an initial, immature deposition of collagen III, which is gradually replaced by mature collagen I. Due to common complications like re-rupture and peritendinous adhesions, a coaxially electrospun DegraPol tube releasing PDGF-BB was developed and tested in a rabbit Achilles tendon full-transection model after pulling it over the conventionally sutured tendon. Beyond cellularity and vascularization, the collagen I-to-III ratio serves as a key indicator of the healing progress. We provide comprehensive data on this ratio at three weeks post surgery, using two methods: Herovici (HV) dual-colour staining and immunohistochemical labelling (IHC) for collagen I and III. Ratios were calculated via colour histograms: red-to-blue for HV, and red-to-green for DAB stained IHC. Data are provided for five distinct anatomical zones: native tendon (NZ), similar-to-native (SZ), reactive zone/interface (RZ), hot zone/core (HZ), and intraspun zone within the fiber mesh pores (IS).
Bürgisser et al. (Fri,) studied this question.