Laboratory of Experimental Pathophysiology, Graduate Program in Health Sciences, Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Criciúma, Brazil.
Aging, Resources and Rheumatology Laboratory, Federal University of Santa Catarina, Araranguá, Brazil.
Scand J Med Sci Sports. 2021 Mar;31(3):610-622. doi: 10.1111/sms.13872. Epub 2020 Nov 27.
Cryotherapy is a therapeutic modality widely used for the treatment of muscle injuries to control pain and inflammatory processes. This study aimed to investigate the effects of cryotherapy on the inflammatory and oxidative stress parameters and mechanical properties of, and pain in, the skeletal muscles of rats with lacerative muscle injury. The rats were anesthetized with 4% isoflurane and subjected to gastrocnemius muscle laceration injury. After injury, all animals in the intervention groups received cryotherapy treatment for 20 minutes using plastic bags containing crushed ice. The protocol comprised three daily applications at 3-hour intervals on the day of injury, with reapplication 24 hours later. Seventy-two male Wistar rats were divided into three groups: sham, muscle injury (MI), and MI + cryotherapy (MI + cryo). Muscle mechanical properties were analyzed by mechanical tensile testing on day 7 after injury. The MI + cryo group showed reduced TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL1β levels; elevated IL4, IL6, and IL10 levels; reduced oxidant production and carbonyl levels; and elevated sulfhydryl contents. Animals that underwent tissue cooling showed superoxide dismutase activity and glutathione levels close to those of the animals in the sham group. The MI and MI + cryo groups showed reduced values of the evaluated mechanical properties and lower mechanical thresholds compared to those of the animals from the sham group. Our results demonstrated that the proposed cryotherapy protocol reduced the inflammatory process and controlled oxidative stress but did not reverse the changes in the mechanical properties of muscle tissues or provide analgesic effects within the time frame analyzed.
冷冻疗法是一种广泛用于治疗肌肉损伤以控制疼痛和炎症过程的治疗方式。本研究旨在探讨冷冻疗法对创伤性肌肉损伤大鼠骨骼肌的炎症和氧化应激参数、力学性能和疼痛的影响。大鼠用 4%异氟烷麻醉，并进行腓肠肌撕裂伤。损伤后，所有干预组的动物均接受 20 分钟的塑料袋内碎冰冷冻疗法治疗。方案包括在损伤当天每隔 3 小时进行 3 次每日应用，24 小时后重新应用。72 只雄性 Wistar 大鼠分为三组：假手术组、肌肉损伤组（MI）和肌肉损伤+冷冻疗法组（MI+冷冻组）。在损伤后 7 天，通过力学拉伸测试分析肌肉力学性能。MI+冷冻组 TNF-α、IFN-γ 和 IL1β 水平降低，IL4、IL6 和 IL10 水平升高，氧化产物和羰基水平降低，巯基含量升高。接受组织冷却的动物的超氧化物歧化酶活性和谷胱甘肽水平接近假手术组的动物。与假手术组的动物相比，MI 和 MI+冷冻组的评估力学性能值降低，机械阈值降低。我们的结果表明，所提出的冷冻疗法方案减轻了炎症过程并控制了氧化应激，但未能在分析的时间范围内逆转肌肉组织力学性能的变化或提供镇痛作用。
