Dextrose prolotherapy and corticosteroid injection into rat Achilles tendon

Area of Science:

• Biomedical Engineering
• Orthopedics
• Regenerative Medicine

Background:

• Tendinopathies are common musculoskeletal injuries.
• Prolotherapy with dextrose is an emerging treatment for tendon repair.
• Corticosteroids are commonly used but have potential side effects.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the mechanical and histological effects of 12.5% dextrose prolotherapy on rat Achilles tendons.
• To compare the outcomes of dextrose prolotherapy with corticosteroid injections and saline controls.

Main Methods:

• Adult female Wistar rats underwent injections of 12.5% dextrose, corticosteroid, or saline into their Achilles tendons over 5-day intervals.
• Histological analysis used picrosirius red and hematoxylin-eosin staining to assess collagen fiber characteristics and inflammation.
• Tensile strength testing evaluated mechanical properties, including maximum load at failure and absorbed energy.

Main Results:

• No significant differences were observed in maximum load at failure or absorbed energy between groups.
• Histology showed significant lymphocytic inflammatory infiltrate and parallel fiber orientation in treated groups compared to controls.
• No significant differences were found in neovascularization, fibroblast presence, or mature/immature fiber percentages.

Conclusions:

• 12.5% dextrose prolotherapy did not negatively impact the mechanical or histological properties of rat Achilles tendons.
• The findings suggest that dextrose injections are not deleterious to tendon tissue.
• Further research is needed to define the clinical significance of these findings in human patients.