Effects of glycosaminoglycan polysulphate on the organisation of collagen fibres in experimentally induced tendonitis in horses

Abstract

An inflammatory process was induced by intratendinous injection of bacterial collagenase into the superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT) of the left thoracic limb of 10 horses. One week later, the tendons in five of the horses (group 1) were treated with glycosaminoglycan polysulphate (GAGPS), and the tendons of the other five (group 2) were treated with saline solution. The horses were euthanased 150 days after the collagenase injections, and samples of the SDFTs were frozen at -14 degrees C, sectioned at 5 to 7 mum longitudinally and transversely, and stained by the picrosirius red method. Morphometric analysis was used to quantify the organised and disorganised bundles of collagen in the samples from groups 1 and 2. Significantly more organised bundles of collagen were observed in the tendons treated with GAGPS.

A Comparative Study Evaluating Three Bioscaffold Augmentation Devices Used for Superficial Digital Flexor Tenorrhaphy in Donkeys (Equus Asinus) by Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Ultrasonography

“…It was completely surrounded by firm white fibrous tissue similar to normal tendon tissue. These promising results indicated the formation of new mature collagenous tissue, as described in other studies [12,30,44].…”

A collagenase gel/physical defect model for controlled induction of superficial digital flexor tendonitis

“…Schnabel, personal communication; [29]). Despite its limitations, the injection of collagenolytic enzymes is a widely reported technique for modelling tendon injury in horses [24,25,28,29,30–42]. The widespread use of collagenase to model tendon injury may reflect the belief that clinical core lesion development is, in part, due to an inappropriate cellular response to injury, leading to enzymatic degradation of the normal matrix.…”

Nutraceutical supplement in the management of tendinopathies: a systematic review

“…The "teno-protection" is commonly practiced by rheumatologists, orthopaedists, and family physicians. Proponents of these treatments suggest that oral supplements of glucosamine and chondroit in sulphate (GlcN-CS) [3][4][5][6][7][8][9] , vitamin C (vit C) [10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17] , hydrolyzed type 1 collagen (Col 1) 18 , L-arginine alpha-keto-glutarate (AAKG) [19][20][21][22][23][24][25][26][27][28][29] , curcumin [30][31][32][33][34] , boswellic acid (BA) [35][36][37][38] , methylsulfonylmethane (MSM) [39][40][41] , and bromelain [42][43][44] increase the concentration of these compounds in tendon context and may help to preserve, or even repair, the damaged tendons. As food supplements, these are not subjected to rigorous controls and licensing processes as drugs; even if some of these products received permissions to be commercialized as drugs in many countries.…”