title: Myoprotective effects of bFGF on skeletal muscle injury in pressure-related deep tissue injury in rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Pressure ulcers (PUs) are a major clinical problem that constitutes a tremendous economic burden on healthcare systems. Deep tissue injury (DTI) is a unique serious type of pressure ulcer that arises in skeletal muscle tissue. DTI arises in part because skeletal muscle tissues are more susceptible than skin to external compression. Unfortunately, few effective therapies are currently available for muscle injury. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF), a potent mitogen and survival factor for various cells, plays a crucial role in the regulation of muscle development and homeostasis. The main purpose of this study was to test whether local administration of bFGF could accelerate muscle regeneration in a rat DTI model.
  
  
  METHODS
  Male Sprague Dawley (SD) rats (age 12 weeks) were individually housed in plastic cages and a DTI PU model was induced according to methods described before. Animals were randomly divided into three groups: a normal group, a PU group treated with saline, and a PU group treated with bFGF (10 μg/0.1 ml) subcutaneously near the wound.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that application of bFGF accelerated the rate of wound closure and promoted cell proliferation and tissue angiogenesis. In addition, compared to saline administration, bFGF treatment prevented collagen deposition, a measure of fibrosis, and up-regulated the myogenic marker proteins MyHC and myogenin, suggesting bFGF promoted injured muscle regeneration. Moreover, bFGF treatment increased levels of myogenesis-related proteins p-Akt and p-mTOR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our findings show that bFGF accelerated injured skeletal muscle regeneration through activation of the PI3K/Akt/mTOR signaling pathway and suggest that administration of bFGF is a potential therapeutic strategy for the treatment of skeletal muscle injury in PUs.
authors: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035 People's Republic of China.
authors: Hongxue
authors: H
authors: Shi
authors: Department of Nursing School, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035 People's Republic of China.
authors: Haohuang
authors: H
authors: Xie
authors: Department of Nursing, The Affiliated Xinhua Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200092 People's Republic of China.
authors: Yan
authors: Y
authors: Zhao
authors: Department of Burns, The First Affiliated Hospital, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035 People's Republic of China.
authors: Cai
authors: C
authors: Lin
authors: Department of Nursing School, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035 People's Republic of China.|Department of Nursing, The Affiliated Dongyang People's Hospital of Wenzhou Medical University, Jinhua, 322100 People's Republic of China.
authors: Feifei
authors: F
authors: Cui
authors: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035 People's Republic of China.|Department of Nursing School, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035 People's Republic of China.
authors: Yingying
authors: Y
authors: Pan
authors: Department of Nursing School, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035 People's Republic of China.
authors: Xiaohui
authors: X
authors: Wang
authors: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035 People's Republic of China.
authors: Jingjing
authors: J
authors: Zhu
authors: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035 People's Republic of China.
authors: Pingtao
authors: P
authors: Cai
authors: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035 People's Republic of China.
authors: Hongyu
authors: H
authors: Zhang
authors: Wound Healing and Cell Biology Laboratory, Institute of Basic Medical Science, Trauma Center of Postgraduate Medical School, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, 100853 People's Republic of China.
authors: Xiaobing
authors: X
authors: Fu
authors: School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Key Laboratory of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Wenzhou Medical University, Wenzhou, 325035 People's Republic of China.
authors: Jian
authors: 0000-0001-7374-6506
authors: J
authors: Xiao
authors: Department of Nursing, The Affiliated Xinhua Hospital of Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine, Shanghai, 200092 People's Republic of China.
authors: Liping
authors: L
authors: Jiang
keywords: PI3K/Akt/mTOR; Pressure ulcer; Regeneration; Skeletal muscle injury; bFGF