Antifibrotic effects of suramin in injured skeletal muscle after laceration.
Chan, Yi-Sheng, Yong Li, William Foster, Takashi Horaguchi, George Somogyi, Freddie
H. Fu, and Johnny Huard.
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Growth and Development Laboratory,
Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and University of Pittsburgh, 2Department of
Orthopaedic Surgery, Division of Sports Medicine, Musculoskeletal Research Center,
University of Pittsburgh, 4Departments of Pharmacology and 5Molecular Genetics and
Biochemistry, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15213; and
3Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Kueishan,
Taoyuan, Taiwan
APStracts 10:0246A, 2003.
Muscle injuries are very common in traumatology and sports medicine. Although muscle
tissue can regenerate postinjury, the healing process is slow and often incomplete;
complete recovery after skeletal muscle injury is hindered by fibrosis. Our studies have
shown that decreased fibrosis could improve muscle healing. Suramin has been found to
inhibit transforming growth factor (TGF)-ß1 expression by competitively binding to the
growth factor receptor. We conducted a series of tests to determine the antifibrotic effects
of suramin on muscle laceration injuries. Our results demonstrate that suramin (50 µg/ml)
can effectively decrease fibroblast proliferation and fibrotic-protein expression (a-smooth
muscle actin) in vitro. In vivo, direct injection of suramin (2.5 mg) into injured murine
muscle resulted in effective inhibition of muscle fibrosis and enhanced muscle
regeneration, which led to efficient functional muscle recovery. These results support our
hypothesis that prevention of fibrosis could enhance muscle regeneration, thereby
facilitating more efficient muscle healing. This study could significantly contribute to the
development of strategies to promote efficient muscle healing and functional recovery.
Received 4 October 2002; accepted in final form 27 April 2003
APS Manuscript Number A915-2.
Article publication pending J Appl Physiol
ISSN 1080-4757 Copyright 2003 The American Physiological Society.
Published in APStracts on 30 May 2003