title: Addition of nitric oxide via nitroflurbiprofen enhances the material properties of early healing of young rat Achilles tendons.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To determine if the addition of nitric oxide (NO) via nitroflurbiprofen (NO-flurbiprofen) would enhance rat Achilles tendon healing.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sixty-five male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into NO-flurbiprofen, flurbiprofen and vehicle groups, given drugs or vehicle subcutaneously, and their right Achilles tendon divided. Histological assessment was carried out at day 5, 10, and 15 post-operation. Healing tendon biomechanical properties and hydroxyproline content were measured at day 10.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The healing Achilles tendon from the NO-flurbiprofen and flurbiprofen groups showed a better organization of extracellular collagenous matrix than that from the vehicle group. Flurbiprofen and NO-flurbiprofen decreased healing tendon cross-sectional area by 30% and 20%. This reduction was accompanied by a decreased failure load in the flurbiprofen group, but not the NO-flurbiprofen group. NO-flubiprofen prevented the reduction of body weight gain observed in the flubiprofen group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Both flurbiprofen and NO-flurbiprofen promoted better collagen reorganization during tendon healing. NO-flurbiprofen further improved tendon healing by increasing tendon stress and reducing the side effects (body weight loss) of flurbiprofen. The enhanced tendon healing by NO-flurbiprofen is likely due to the release of NO from the compound.
authors.affiliation: Orthopaedic Research Institute, St George Hospital Campus, University of New South Wales, 4-10 South Street, Kogarah, Sydney, NSW 2217, Australia.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Yuan
authors.forename: G A C
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Murrell
authors.forename: A-Q
authors.initials: AQ
authors.lastname: Wei
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Appleyard
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Del Soldato
authors.forename: M-X
authors.initials: MX
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000125:Achilles Tendon / Q000293:injuries* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D000818:Animals; D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001834:Body Water / Q000378:metabolism; D003094:Collagen / Q000378:metabolism; D004396:Coloring Agents; D005110:Extracellular Space / Q000378:metabolism; D005480:Flurbiprofen / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D008297:Male; D009569:Nitric Oxide / Q000378:metabolism / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D015430:Weight Gain / Q000187:drug effects; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects*
chemical_list: D000894:Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal; D004396:Coloring Agents; C095631:nitroflurbiprofen; D009569:Nitric Oxide; D005480:Flurbiprofen; D003094:Collagen