Abstract
Skeletal muscle injuries in competitive sports cause lengthy absences of athletes from tournaments. This is of tremendous competitive and economic relevance for both the athletes and their respective clubs. Therapy for structural muscle lesions aims to promote regeneration and fast-track return-to-play. A common clinical treatment strategy for muscle injuries is the intramuscular injection of calf blood compound and the homeopathic drug, Tr14. Although the combination of these two agents was reported to reduce recovery time, the regulatory mechanism whereby this occurs remains unknown. In this in vivo study, we selected a rat model of mechanical muscle injury to investigate the effect of this combination therapy on muscle regeneration. Gene expression analysis and histological images revealed that this combined intramuscular injection for muscle lesions can enhance the expression of pro-myogenic genes and proteins and accelerate muscle regeneration. These findings are novel and depict the positive effects of calf blood compound and the homeopathic drug, Tr14, which are utilized in the field of Sports medicine.