Cyrotherapy Reduces Macrophage Infiltration and Inflammatory Mediators Following Muscle Injury

Abstract

Cryotherapy following muscle injury is a commonly used treatment in sports medicine. However, there are conflicting reports on the efficacy of cryotherapy to reduce inflammation. The infiltration of macrophages and macrophage produced growth factors are now considered important mediators of the healing process. The purpose of our study was to evaluate the effects of cryotherapy on inflammation associated with muscle regeneration in mice. Following BaCl2 injury, we observed a significant reduction in macrophage infiltration in mice that received cryotherapy (20 min of ice therapy every 2hr during consecutive 12 hr wake cycles) over a 48 hr period. qPCR analysis of mRNA expression for wnt proteins and inflammatory mediators revealed a statistically significant reduction in wnt 2b, 3, 5a, 11, 16 and NFk‐β, TNF‐α, TGF‐β, and IGF‐1. Given that wnt proteins are important during development of muscle and in many tissue regeneration models, we believe this supports the notion that the reduction in inflammation afforded by cryotherapy may correspond with a delay in muscle healing. Studies are ongoing to determine the long‐term effects of cryotherapy on macrophage‐mediated muscle regeneration and extracellular matrix remodeling.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.