Background
Taekwondo is a very popular sport today. Due to higher training intensity, ankle instability and PTD are common among Taekwondo athletes which may ruin their careers. However, the risk factors and mechanisms of the disease, appropriate treatment methods or preventive measures have not been systematically studied, and this research aims to solve these problems.
Methods
A large number of Taekwondo athletes have undergone long-term specialist examinations, treatments and postoperative follow-ups. Intraoperative observation and imaging evidence confirmed that the width of the peroneal tendon of Taekwondo athletes was significantly higher than that of the general population, which is one of the cause of PTD.While giving to athletes surgical treatment(multiple reviet technique), we obtained the extraneous tissue in the thickened part of the peroneal tendon from some athletes for follow-up experimental research.
Results
We found that the concentration of IL-20 in the matrix is relative higher in the thickened peroneal tendon, and it is positively correlated with the expression of EGR1 in fibroblasts, while the dysregulation of EGR1 will activate STAT3 Pathway, and regulate the thickening of the peroneal tendon in a variety of ways.Based on the professional characteristics of athletes ,the high incidence of PTD among Taekwondo athletes makes it more important to prevent it. According to the experience of Chinese orthopedics, Astragalus polysaccharide is creatively used as a preventive drug to some athletes who have a high risk of PTD, it was found that the use of APS had a satisfactory effect on delaying the thickening of the peroneal tendon of athletes and reducing the incidence of dislocation. At the same time, the preventive effect of APS was confirmed through several groups of clinical cases, and the mechanism of APS to prevent PTD was also speculated.
Conclusions
EGR1 regulates the thickning of the peroneal tendon in Taekwondo athletes by activating the STAT3 pathway, the importance of prophylactic useof APS to reduce the thickening of the peroneal tendon.