Possible reparative effect of low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) on injured meniscus.

Author: Kamatsuki Y1,2, Aoyama E2, Furumatsu T1, Miyazawa S3, Maehara A3, Yamanaka N4, Nishida T5, Kubota S2,5, Ozaki T1, Takigawa M6
Affiliation:
1Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Kitaku, Okayama, 700-8558, Japan.
2Advanced Research Center for Oral and Craniofacial Sciences (ARCOCS), Okayama University Dental School/Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8525, Japan.
3Department of Intelligent Orthopedic System, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1, Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama, Japan.
4ITO Co., Ltd., 3-1-8 Sakae-cho, Kawaguchi, Saitama, 332-0017, Japan.
5Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Dentistry, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8525, Japan.
6Advanced Research Center for Oral and Craniofacial Sciences (ARCOCS), Okayama University Dental School/Graduate School of Medicine, Dentistry, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2-5-1 Shikata-cho, Kita-ku, Okayama, 700-8525, Japan. takigawa@md.okayama-u.ac.jp.
Conference/Journal: J Cell Commun Signal.
Date published: 2018 Nov 20
Other: Special Notes: doi: 10.1007/s12079-018-0496-9. [Epub ahead of print] , Word Count: 265


Menisci are a pair of crescent-shaped fibrocartilages, particularly of which their inner region of meniscus is an avascular tissue. It has characteristics similar to those of articular cartilage, and hence is inferior in healing. We previously reported that low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS) treatment stimulates the production of CCN2/CTGF, a protein involved in repairing articular cartilage, and the gene expression of major cartilage matrices such as type II collagen and aggrecan in cultured chondrocytes. Therefore, in this present study, we investigated whether LIPUS has also favorable effect on meniscus cells and tissues. LIPUS applied with a 60 mW/cm2 intensity for 20 min stimulated the gene expression and protein production of CCN2 via ERK and p38 signaling pathways, as well as gene expression of SOX9, aggrecan, and collagen type II in human inner meniscus cells in culture, and slightly stimulated the gene expression of CCN2 and promoted the migration in human outer meniscus cells in culture. LIPUS also induced the expression of Ccn2, Sox9, Col2a1, and Vegf in rat intact meniscus. Furthermore, histological evaluations showed that LIPUS treatment for 1 to 4 weeks promoted healing of rat injured lateral meniscus, as evidenced by better and earlier angiogenesis and extracellular matrix synthesis. The data presented indicate that LIPUS treatment might prevent meniscus from degenerative change and exert a reparative effect on injured meniscus via up-regulation of repairing factors such as CCN2 and that it might thus be useful for treatment of an injured meniscus as a non-invasive therapy.

KEYWORDS: CCN2/CTGF; Cell migration; ERK; Low-intensity pulsed ultrasound (LIPUS); Meniscal healing; Meniscus regeneration; p38

PMID: 30460593 DOI: 10.1007/s12079-018-0496-9

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