TITLE:
Benefits of the Combined Use of NSAID and Early Exercise on Tendon Healing in a Murine Model
AUTHORS:
Kelly Biancardini Gomes Barbato, Clara Raposo, Hanna Dias, Renata Paiva, João da Costa, Libardo Rodriguez, Guilherme de Almeida, Oscar Rocha-Barbosa, Liszt Palmeira de Oliveira, Jorge Carvalho
KEYWORDS:
Achilles Tendon Rupture, Experimental Study, Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug, Aerobic Exercise, PCNA, Biomechanics
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Journal of Animal Sciences,
Vol.8 No.4,
September
3,
2018
ABSTRACT: Achilles tendon rupture is one of the most frequent
tendon injuries. The aim of this experimental study was to evaluate the effect
of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID) and of aerobic exercise, in
an isolated fashion and combined, on cell proliferation and on the
biomechanical aspects of the Achilles tendon during healing process after a
complete tenotomy in 156 male Wistar rats. Half of the animals received an
intra-muscular injection of tenoxicam for 7 days and exercise was initiated on
the 8th day for half the animals of each group. Animals were sacrificed at 1,
2, 4 and 8 weeks after the tenotomy and cell proliferation was evaluated by
immunohistochemistry for PCNA, biomechanical evaluation was performed with
ultimate load and gait cycle analysis was also carried out. Animals were
divided into four treatment groups: A) no NSAID and no exercise (control group);
B) NSAID plus exercise; C) no NSAID, with exercise; D) NSAID and no exercise.
We used the test of two-way analysis of variance with equal cells number,
Kruskal-Wallis test and also, Bonferroni method, in the R Project program
3.5.0. The highest intensity of PCNA immunostaining was found at 2 weeks in all
groups except for group A (control) that had the highest intensity at 1 week.
Animals submitted to exercise had significantly higher (P = 0.02) ultimate loads when compared to animals that were not
submitted to exercise at 8 weeks after injury. The animals that received NSAID
presented with a more stable gait cycle than the animals that did not receive
NSAID. Aerobic exercise, initiated early after a complete Achilles tendon
tenotomy, was beneficial to the biomechanical aspects of the tendon that occur
during tendon regeneration and the combined use of NSAID improved the gait’s
characteristics which could be protective against re-ruptures.