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Background:

Muscle contusions are a common type of muscle injury and are frequently encountered in athletes and military personnel. Although these injuries are capable of healing in most instances, incomplete functional recovery often occurs because of the development of fibrosis in the muscle. We hypothesized that a combination of platelet-rich plasma (PRP) injection and oral administration of losartan (an antifibrotic agent) could enhance muscle healing by stimulating muscle regeneration and angiogenesis and by preventing fibrosis in contusion-injured skeletal muscle.

Methods:

Contusion injuries were created in the tibialis anterior muscles of mice. Two treatments were tested, alone and in combination: 20 μL of PRP injected into the contusion site one day after injury, and 10 mg/kg/day of losartan administered beginning three days after injury and continuing until the end point of the experiment. Muscle …