To investigate the role of prostaglandin (PG) E1 in preventing scar formation as well as that of the related cytokines, we culture fibroblasts from hypertrophic scar tissue (SDF) and normal dermis (NDF) collected from patients with scar contracture. We have compared the type I collagen synthesis, type I collagenase activity, and the production of interleukin (IL)-6, IL-8 and transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta(1) in two types of cultured fibroblasts before and after addition of PGE1. Our results demonstrated that levels of type I collagen and TGF-beta(1) production were higher and that type I collagenase activity and IL-8 production were significantly lower in the culture supernatants of SDF. There was no significance difference in IL-6 production between SDF and NDF culture supernatants. On the other hand, PGE1 significantly increased type I collagenase activity and IL-8 production in the SDF culture supernatants and it increased IL-6 and TGF-beta(1) production in both types of fibroblasts. However, there was no effect on synthesis of type I collagen in either group. To further investigate the role of TGF-beta(1) in NDF and SDF, exogenous recombinant human (rh) TGF-beta(1) was added. In NDF group, rhTGF-beta(1) induced a decrease in the type I collagenase/type I collagen ratio, while rhTGF-beta(1) had no effect on the same ratio in the SDF group. These results suggest that PGE1 may have a role in the prevention of hypertrophic scar by increasing the activity of type I collagenase.