According to a new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, treatment with anabolic steroids could improve surgical repair of massive or recurrent tears of rotator cuff tendons of the shoulder.
It is common to see that these kinds of injuries extend well beyond athletes, collegiate, and professional sportsmen and may occur in older sportsmen, including golf and tennis players.
This study appeared in an issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine and was led by Dr. Spero Karas, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery in UNC’s School of Medicine.
From News-Medical.Net:
Anabolic steroids benefit millions of people a year, said Karas, including those with deficiencies in sex hormones and burn victims who need to build up their metabolism to repair musculoskeletal tissue. They also are FDA-approved for treating anemia for their ability to help the body rebuild blood.
As it’s widely known that anabolic steroids can build muscle mass and strength, Karas said he thought these properties might apply to shoulder tissue and that Banes’ bioartificial tendon might provide the appropriate model for testing.
“In this new study, supraspinatus tendon cells were harvested from my patients during rotator cuff surgery, isolated and then sent to Albert’s lab,” Karas said. “The cells were then grown in his culture media to coalesce and form this experimental tendon model, the bioartificial tendon.”
Prior to applying mechanical strain, the researchers treated some of the developing tissue with the anabolic steroid nandrolone decoanate. The steroid was administered directly into the lab dish via pipette, or dropper.
“We clearly found that when you looked at the bioartificial tendon matrices that were treated with anabolic steroid and then mechanical load or strain, we saw significant increases in their biomechanical properties,” Karas said.
It was remarked by Karas that anabolic steroids and load work synergistically for improving features of tendon. It is believed that crucial implications of this study could prove beneficial to post-surgery healing of tendons that have been torn or retracted for a long time.
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