Muskelregeneration nach induzierten Traumata unter Blockade von TNF-Rezeptoren durch den TNF-Inhibitor Infliximab an einem etablierten Rattenmodell

The aim of our study was to investigate whether blockade of TNF using the TNF inhibitor infliximab could improve and accelerate muscle regeneration after injury. Therefore we induced a blunt injury of the left soleus muscle on 42 rats. After trauma, 42 animals received a single dose of either 10 mg/kg bw infliximab or equivalent volumes of saline as vehicle solution i.p.. Subsequent observations were performed at day 1, 4 and 14 after injury. At the end of the experiment we quantified the muscle force, the wet muscle weight to body weight,the muscle cell proliferation (BrdU immunohistochemistry) and the area of musclecells aswell as the myofiber diameter (HE histology). The ratio of muscle weight to body weight was increased and the muscle force analysis showed a significant increase of twitch muscle force14 days after injury by TNF inhibition. Quantification of myofiber diameter showed a significant difference between both groups at day 1 and 4 after injury, indicated by muscle hypertrophy in the infliximab group. Planimetric analysis of muscle tissue revealed at day 14a significant increase of visible muscle cells in the infliximab group compared to the controls. However, muscle cell proliferation did not differ between both groups. Overall these data support our primary hypothesis that inhibition of TNF induces regenerative processes in the injured muscle.