Int J Sports Med 2004; 25(8): 588-593
DOI: 10.1055/s-2004-821304
Clinical Sciences

© Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Treatment of Muscle Injuries by Local Administration of Autologous Conditioned Serum: A Pilot Study on Sportsmen with Muscle Strains

T. Wright-Carpenter1 , 3 , P. Klein2 , P. Schäferhoff2 , H. J. Appell3 , L. M. Mir1 , P. Wehling4
  • 1UMR 8121 CNRS, Institut Gustave-Roussy, Villejuif, France
  • 2MediaPark Clinic for Sports Medicine & Orthopaedics, Köln, Germany
  • 3Department of Physiology & Anatomy, German Sport University, Köln, Germany
  • 4Orthopaedics and Neurosurgery Clinic, Düsseldorf, Germany
Further Information

Publication History

Publication Date:
28 September 2004 (online)

Abstract

Muscle injuries represent a major part of sports injuries and are a challenging problem in traumatology. Strain injuries are the most common muscle injuries after contusions. These injuries can lead to significant pain and disability causing time to be lost to training and competition. Despite the frequency of strain injuries the treatment available is limited and is generally not sufficient to enhance muscle regeneration efficiently when fast resumption of sport activity is a primary target. A number of growth factors play a specific role in regeneration and it has been proven that a previously described method of physically and chemically stimulating whole blood (to produce autologous conditioned serum) induces concentration increases in FGF-2, HGF, and TGF-β1. A preliminary study was conducted on muscle strain injuries in professional sportsmen receiving either: 1. autologous conditioned serum (ACS) or 2. Actovegin/Traumeel® treatment as control. Assessment of recovery from injury was done by: 1. sport professional's ability to participate to 100 % under competition conditions in their respective sport and 2. MRI analysis. A significant difference in the recovery time from injury was demonstrated: 16.6 ± 0.9 in the ACS treated instead of 22.3 ± 1.2 (mean ± SEM) days in the Actovegin/Traumeel® control group (p = 0.001). MRI analysis supported the observed acceleration of the lesion recovery time. We conclude that ACS injection is a promising approach to reduce the time to recovery from muscle injury.

References

  • 1 Allen R E, Boxhorn L K. Regulation of skeletal muscle satellite cell proliferation and differentiation by transforming growth factor-beta, insulin-like growth factor I, and fibroblast growth factor.  J Cell Physiol. 1989;  138 311-315
  • 2 Allen R E, Dodson M V, Luiten L S. Regulation of skeletal muscle satellite cell proliferation by bovine pituitary fibroblast growth factor.  Exp Cell Res. 1984;  152 154-160
  • 3 Allen R E, Sheehan S M, Taylor R G, Kendall T L, Rice G M. Hepatocyte growth factor activates quiescent skeletal muscle satellite cells in vitro.  J Cell Physiol. 1995;  165 307-312
  • 4 Best T M. Soft-tissue injuries and muscle tears.  Clin Sports Med. 1997;  16 419-434
  • 5 Bischoff R. Chemotaxis of skeletal muscle satellite cells.  Dev Dyn. 1997;  208 505-515
  • 6 Canale S T, Cantler E D, Sisk T D, Freeman B L. A chronicle of injuries of an American intercollegiate football team 3rd.  Am J Sports Med. 1981;  9 384-389
  • 7 Garrett Jr W E. Muscle strain injuries.  Am J Sports Med. 1996;  24 S2-8
  • 8 Garrett Jr W E. Muscle strain injuries: clinical and basic aspects.  Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1990;  22 436-443
  • 9 Grunitz B, Krause W. On the application of Traumeel ointment in the orthopedic clinic.  Dt Med J. 1968;  19 245-248
  • 10 Harrington M A, Daub R, Song A, Stasek J, Garcia J G. Interleukin 1 alpha mediated inhibition of myogenic terminal differentiation: increased sensitivity of Ha-ras transformed cultures.  Cell Growth Differ. 1992;  3 241-248
  • 11 Husmann I, Soulet L, Gautron J, Martelly I, Barritault D. Growth factors in skeletal muscle regeneration.  Cytokine Growth Factor Rev. 1996;  7 249-258
  • 12 Jarvinen T A, Kaariainen M, Jarvinen M, Kalimo H. Muscle strain injuries.  Curr Opin Rheumatol. 2000;  12 155-161
  • 13 Joseph-Silverstein J, Consigli S A, Lyser K M, Ver Pault C. Basic fibroblast growth factor in the chick embryo: immunolocalization to striated muscle cells and their precursors.  J Cell Biol. 1989;  108 2459-2466
  • 14 Kasemkijwattana C, Menetrey J, Bosch P, Somogyi G, Moreland M S, Fu F H, Buranapanitkit B, Watkins S S, Huard J. Use of growth factors to improve muscle healing after strain injury.  Clin Orthop. 2000;  (370) 272-285
  • 15 Kasemkijwattana C, Menetrey J, Somogyl G, Moreland M S, Fu F H, Buranapanitkit B, Watkins S C, Huard J. Development of approaches to improve the healing following muscle contusion.  Cell Transplant. 1998;  7 585-598
  • 16 Lefaucheur J P, Sebille A. Muscle regeneration following injury can be modified in vivo by immune neutralization of basic fibroblast growth factor, transforming growth factor beta 1 or insulin-like growth factor I.  J Neuroimmunol. 1995;  57 85-91
  • 17 Meijer H, Reinecke J, Becker C, Tholen G, Wehling P. The production of anti-inflammatory cytokines in whole blood by physico-chemical induction.  Inflamm Res. 2003;  52 404-407
  • 18 Pfister A, Koller W. Treatment of fresh muscle injury.  Sportverletz Sportschaden. 1990;  4 41-44
  • 19 Pomeranz S J, Heidt Jr R S. MR imaging in the prognostication of hamstring injury. Work in progress.  Radiology. 1993;  189 897-900
  • 20 Sheehan S M, Allen R E. Skeletal muscle satellite cell proliferation in response to members of the fibroblast growth factor family and hepatocyte growth factor.  J Cell Physiol. 1999;  181 499-506
  • 21 Sheehan S M, Tatsumi R, Temm-Grove C J, Allen R E. HGF is an autocrine growth factor for skeletal muscle satellite cells in vitro.  Muscle Nerve. 2000;  23 239-245
  • 22 Tidball J G. Inflammatory cell response to acute muscle injury.  Med Sci Sports Exerc. 1995;  27 1022-1032
  • 23 Wright-Carpenter T, Opolon P, Appell H J, Meijer H, Wehling P, Mir L M. Treatment of muscle injuries by local administration of autologous conditioned serum: animal experiments using a muscle contusion model.  Int J Sports Med. 2004;  25 583-588
  • 24 Yablonka-Reuveni Z, Seger R, Rivera A J. Fibroblast growth factor promotes recruitment of skeletal muscle satellite cells in young and old rats.  J Histochem Cytochem. 1999;  47 23-42
  • 25 Zarins B, Ciullo J V. Acute muscle and tendon injuries in athletes.  Clin Sports Med. 1983;  2 167-182

L. M. Mir

Laboratory of Vectorology and Gene Transfer, UMR 8121 CNRS - Institut Gustave Roussy

39, rue Camille Desmoulins

94805 Villejuif Cedex

France

Phone: + 33(0)142114792

Fax: + 33 (0) 1 42 11 52 45

Email: luismir@igr.fr

    >