The Effects of Growth Factors on Skeletal Muscle Lesions

Skeletal muscle injuries are common causes of severe long-term pain and physical disability, accounting for up to 55% of all sports injuries. The phases of the healing process after direct or indirect muscle injury are complex but clearly defined processes comprising well-coordinated steps: degeneration, inflammation, regeneration, and fibrosis. Despite this frequent occurrence and the presence of a body of data on the pathophysiology of muscle injuries, none of the treatment strategies adopted to date have been shown to be really effective in strictly controlled trials. Most current muscle injury treatments are based on limited experimental and clinical data and/or were only empirically tested. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is a promising alternative approach based on the ability of autologous growth factors (GFs) to accelerate tissue healing, improve muscular regeneration, increase neovascularization and reduce fibrosis, allowing rapid recovery after muscle lesions. Thus, further experimental studies that include the quantification of specific GFs released by PRP, as well as additional data on angiogenesis, myogenesis and functional recovery are needed to ultimately validate the hypothesis of PRP efficacy in the treatment of muscle lesions and open the way for its wide clinical application.