Published in:
01-07-2008 | Symposium: Molecular and Clinical Developments in Tendinopathy
Addition of Nitric Oxide Through Nitric Oxide-paracetamol Enhances Healing Rat Achilles Tendon
Authors:
George A. C. Murrell, MD, DPhil, Gongyao Tang, MD, Richard C. Appleyard, PhD, Piero del Soldato, MD, Min-Xia Wang, MD
Published in:
Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research®
|
Issue 7/2008
Login to get access
Abstract
Nitric oxide is an important messenger molecule in many physiological processes. The addition of NO via NO-flurbiprofen enhances the material properties of healing tendon, however, flurbiprofen has a detrimental effect on healing. We asked if NO delivered by a cyclooxygenase 3 inhibitor (paracetamol/acetaminophen) would enhance healing in a rat Achilles tendon healing model. Rats were injected subcutaneously daily with NO-paracetamol, paracetamol or vehicle from two days before surgery to the day of tissue harvesting. Paracetamol had no effect on tendon healing compared with vehicle alone. NO-paracetamol did not change the failure load, but did decrease the water content, enhance the collagen content, reduce the cross-sectional area and improve the ultimate stress of healing tendon compared with paracetamol and vehicle. The collagen organization of the healing tendon in the NO-paracetamol group, as determined by polarized light microscopy, was enhanced. Our data suggests NO-paracetamol increases the total collagen content and enhances organization while decreasing the cross-sectional area of healing rat Achilles tendon and is consistent with human clinical trials where NO has improved the symptoms and signs of tendinopathy.