Icariin Promotes Tendon-Bone Healing during Repair of Rotator Cuff Tears: A Biomechanical and Histological Study

Abstract

To investigate whether the systematic administration of icariin (ICA) promotes tendon-bone healing after rotator cuff reconstruction in vivo, a total of 64 male Sprague Dawley rats were used in a rotator cuff injury model and underwent rotator cuff reconstruction (bone tunnel suture fixation). Rats from the ICA group (n = 32) were gavage-fed daily with ICA at 0.125 mg/g, while rats in the control group (n = 32) received saline only. Micro-computed tomography, biomechanical tests, serum ELISA (calcium; Ca, alkaline phosphatase; AP, osteocalcin; OCN) and histological examinations (Safranin O and Fast Green staining, type I, II and III collagen (Col1, Col2, and Col3), CD31, and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)) were analyzed two and four weeks after surgery. In the ICA group, the serum levels of AP and OCN were higher than in the control group. More Col1-, Col2-, CD31-, and VEGF-positive cells, together with a greater degree of osteogenesis, were detected in the ICA group compared with the control group. During mechanical testing, the ICA group showed a significantly higher ultimate failure load than the control group at both two and four weeks. Our results indicate that the systematic administration of ICA could promote angiogenesis and tendon-bone healing after rotator cuff reconstruction, with superior mechanical strength compared with the controls. Treatment for rotator cuff injury using systematically-administered ICA could be a promising strategy.

The effects of icariin on wound healing of extraction sites with administration of zoledronic and dexamethasone: A rat model study

“…In the present study, delayed healing and decreased VEGF were found after injection of ZA and DX, while improved healing and promoted VEGF were noted after the intervention of a high dose of ICA. Previous studies have shown that ICA promoted VEGF and ZA inhibited wound healing and the expression of VEGF, which were in accordance with our study. VEGF is one of the growth factors that are of great importance in soft tissue repair and angiogenesis .…”

Management of medication‐related osteonecrosis of jaw: Comparison between icariin and teriparatide in a rat model

“…The stimulative effect of icarrin on wound healing have been confirmed by other studies 13,20,21 and this may correlate to upregulated expression of VEGF which correlates to angiogenesis, 22 activated the MEK/ERK and PI3K/Akt/eNOS‐dependent signal pathways and promoted differention of keratinocyte involved in wound healing 13,20,23 . Angiogenesis is also an important factor in bone healing 12 and studies have shown the promising effect of icarrin on bone healing via promoting angiogenesis 11,24 . Besides, inflamation could delay soft tissue healing and the anti‐inflammatory effect of icarrin was also proved 25,26 .…”

Deferoxamine-Soaked Suture Improves Angiogenesis and Repair Potential After Acute Injury of the Chicken Achilles Tendon

“…One longitudinal half of the tendon was used to evaluate angiogenesis indirectly by measuring the tissue's hemoglobin content as a percentage of wet tissue weight on the day of euthanasia. 39 The tissue's DNA content and proteoglycan (PG) content, both as a percentage of wet tissue weight, were also evaluated as measures of tissue repair on the homogenized tissue after freezing samples at -80 C. Samples were frozen with liquid nitrogen, and a tissue pulverizer (Cellcrusher) was used to homogenize the tissue. Homogenate from each sample was then centrifuged for 5 minutes at 13,000 rpm with 1 mL of 0.2% Triton X-100 cell lysis buffer (Sigma-Aldrich).…”