Abstract
Tendon injuries are commonly met in the emergency department. Unfortunately, tendon tissue has limited regeneration potential and usually the consequent formation of scar tissue causes inferior mechanical properties. Nanoparticles could be used in different way to improve tendon healing and regeneration, ranging from scaffolds manufacturing (increasing the strength and endurance or anti-adhesions, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory properties) to gene therapy. This paper aims to summarize the most relevant studies showing the potential application of nanoparticles for tendon tissue regeneration.
Highlights
Tendon injuries could be caused by trauma, but most of them are the result of gradual wear and tear of the tendon from overuse or aging (Thomopoulos et al, 2015)
Tendons and associated extracellular matrices are composed of nanostructured materials
The nanoparticles could be exploited in several ways: in the manufacture of scaffolds, increasing the strength, and endurance or anti-adhesions, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory properties; as a carrier in gene therapy, for an anti-adhesions and anti-inflammatory activity; using directly their antiinflammatory properties and relationship with the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cell surfaces; aid in the iontophoresis and phonophoresis using anti-inflammatory properties; labeling and tracking stem-cells with MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI)
Summary
Tendon injuries could be caused by trauma, but most of them are the result of gradual wear and tear of the tendon from overuse or aging (Thomopoulos et al, 2015). The healing of Achilles tendon usually takes 4–8 weeks; a full return to sport activities is only recommended after a long span of 4–12 months To overcome these problems new strategies based on stem cell transplantation and growth factors have been proposed (Sahni et al, 2014; Lui, 2015). Besides the application of growth factors and stem cell transplantation, innovative research focuses on the development of nano-structured scaffolds to improve the healing response in tendon injuries (Oragui et al, 2012). Tendons and associated extracellular matrices are composed of nanostructured materials For this reason, in the last years there was a growing interest to develop novel nano-materials for tendon regeneration. The nanoparticles could be exploited in several ways: in the manufacture of scaffolds, increasing the strength, and endurance or anti-adhesions, anti-microbial, and anti-inflammatory properties; as a carrier in gene therapy, for an anti-adhesions and anti-inflammatory activity; using directly their antiinflammatory properties and relationship with the extracellular matrix (ECM) and cell surfaces; aid in the iontophoresis and phonophoresis using anti-inflammatory properties; labeling and tracking stem-cells with MRI
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
