ABSTRACT
Skeletal muscle injuries are the most common sports-related injuries and present a challenge in primary care and sports medicine. Most types of muscle injuries would follow three stages: the acute inflammatory and degenerative phase, the repair phase and the remodeling phase. Present conservative treatment includes RICE (rest, ice, compression, elevation), nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and physical therapy. However, if use improper, NSAIDs may suppress an essential inflammatory phase in the healing of injured skeletal muscle. Furthermore, it remains controversial whether or not they have adverse effects on the healing process or on the tensile strength. However, several growth factors might promote the regeneration of injured skeletal muscle, many novel treatments have involved on enhancing complete functional recovery. Exogenous growth factors have been shown to regulate satellite cell proliferation, differentiation and fusion in myotubes in vivo and in vitro, TGF-ß1 antagonists behave as inhibitors of TGF-ß1. They prevent collagen deposition and block formation of muscle fibrosis, so that a complete functional recovery can be achieved.
ABSTRACT
The pathogenesis of heterotopic ossification is still unclear and the preventive therapies are usually insufficient. The present study was designed to investigate the possible preventive effect of free radical scavengers on the development of experimentally induced heterotopic ossification in a rabbit model and to compare free radical scavengers with indomethacin to determine whether they act synergistically. A standard immobilization-manipulation model was used to induce heterotopic ossification in the hind legs of 40 1-year-old female New Zealand albino rabbits. The animals were divided into four groups and received daily either placebo, a free radical scavenger cocktail [allopurinol and N-acetylcysteine (A/A)], indomethacin or the combination of A/A and indomethacin in a randomized double-blind fashion. Every 4 days an X-ray was taken and the thickness and length of new bone formation was measured at the thigh. A marked statistically significant difference was found between the four groups. In the groups that received A/A, either alone or combined with indomethacin, an inhibition of bone growth, both in thickness and in length was demonstrated. In this experimental model free radical scavengers had a superior inhibitory effect on heterotopic ossification than indomethacin. Free radicals could play an important role in the pathogenesis of heterotopic ossification.
