title: Characteristics of the rat supraspinatus tendon during tendon-to-bone healing after acute injury.
abstract: Rotator cuff repair is known to have a high failure rate. Little is known about the natural healing process of the rotator cuff repair site, hence little can be done to improve the tendon's ability to heal. The purpose of this study was to investigate the collagen formation at the early repair site and to localize TGFbeta-1 and 3 during early healing and compare their levels to cell proliferation and histological changes. Bilateral supraspinatus tendons were transected and repaired in 60 rats. Specimens were harvested and evaluated at 0, 1, 3, 7, 10, 28, and 56 days. Histological sections were evaluated for cell morphology. Immunohistochemistry and in situ hybridization was performed to localize protein and mRNA for collagen types I and III and TGFbeta-1 and 3. Proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) assay was performed to measure cell proliferation, and cells were counted to determine cell density. Biomechanical properties were evaluated. Repair tissue demonstrated an initial inflammatory response with multinucleated cells present at 1 and 3 days, and lymphocytes and plasma cells presents at 7 and 10 days. Capillary proliferation began at 3 days and peaked at 10 days. Ultimate force increased significantly over the time period studied. Collagen I protein and mRNA significantly increased at 10 days, and reached a plateau by 28 and 56 days. Collagen III showed a similar trend, with an early increase, and remained high until 56 days. TGFbeta-1 was localized to the forming scar tissue and showed a distinct peak at 10 days. TGFbeta-3 was not seen at the healing insertion site. Cell proliferation and density followed the same trend as TGFbeta-1. A wound healing response does occur at the healing rotator cuff insertion site, however, the characteristics of the tendon after healing differ significantly from the uninjured tendon insertion site at the longest time-point studied. A distinctive collagen remodeling process occurred with an initial increase in the formation of collagen types I and III followed by a decrease toward baseline levels seen at time 0. Growth factor TGFbeta-1 was localized to repair tissue and coincided with a peak in cell proliferation and cellularity. Repair sites remained unorganized histologically and biomechanically inferior in comparison to previously described uninjured insertion sites.
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopaedic Research, Washington University School of Medicine, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, 660 S. Euclid Avenue, Campus Box 8233, St. Louis, Missouri 63110, USA. GalatzL@msnotes.wustl.edu
authors.forename: Leesa M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Galatz
authors.forename: Linda J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Sandell
authors.forename: Stefan Y
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Rothermich
authors.forename: Rosalina
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Das
authors.forename: Ava
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Mastny
authors.forename: Necat
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Havlioglu
authors.forename: Matthew J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Silva
authors.forename: Stavros
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Thomopoulos
mesh_terms: D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002452:Cell Count; D049109:Cell Proliferation; D024042:Collagen Type I / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D024061:Collagen Type III / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D007124:Immunoenzyme Techniques; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D008297:Male; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000032:analysis; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D017006:Rotator Cuff / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D000070636:Rotator Cuff Injuries; D013708:Tendon Injuries / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D024042:Collagen Type I; D024061:Collagen Type III; D012333:RNA, Messenger; C508962:Tgfb1 protein, rat; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta; D053773:Transforming Growth Factor beta1