Abstract: Objective To investigate the expression and significance of Secreted protein,acidic and rich in cysteine (SPARC) in keloid and hypertrophic scar(HS).Methods Tissue samples were harvested from 26 patients with keloid and 26 with HS(3-12 months) and 5 from the skin of healthy adults.All specimens were fixed in 40 g/L formalin.Then the specimens were continuously sliced into 4μm thick sections.These sections were stained by streptoavidin-biotion method of immunohisto-chemistry.The other groups were normal control(normal skin),positive control(gastric cancerous tissue) and negative control(phosphate buffer) instead of The first antibody.The concentration of Rat anti-human SPARC monoclonal antibody were 1:200.Results There was scarce expression of SPARC in the skin tissue of healthy adults,and it was only present in the dermal papillae at the dermis epider-mis conjunctions and partly in the blood vessels and skin appendages adjacent to the basement membrane.There was low expression of SPARC in the dermal scar tissue and skin appendages in HS.Also,early expression of hypertrophic scar sputum.There was no significantly difference in the expression between late hypertrophic scar(P>0.05).SPARC showed scattered diffuse distribution as the same in the hypertrophic scar,and the lower expression of positive signals in the keloid.Compared with that in normal skin,there was no significant difference in the SPARC expression between HS and keloid(P>0.05).Conclusion There was lower SPARC expression in HS(3-12 months), and lower expression in keloid.

Key words: Keloid, Secreted protein, acidic and rich in cysteine(SPARC), Hyperplastic scar(HS), Expression