Inflammation post injury 'helps to heal damaged muscle tissue'

Washington, Oct 5 (ANI): New research shows that inflammation actually helps to heal damaged muscle tissue, turning conventional wisdom on its head that inflammation must be largely controlled to encourage healing.

These findings could lead to new therapies for acute muscle injuries caused by trauma, chemicals, infections, freeze damage, and exposure to medications which cause muscle damage as a side effect.an Zhou a researcher involved in the work from the Neuroinflammation Research Center/Department of Neurosciences/Lerner Research Institute at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio, and colleagues found that the presence of inflammatory cells (macrophages) in acute muscle injury produce a high level of a growth factor called insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) which significantly increases the rate of muscle regeneration.

The research report shows that muscle inflammatory cells produce the highest levels of IGF-1, which improves muscle injury repair.

"For wounds to heal we need controlled inflammation, not too much, and not too little," said Gerald Weissmann, Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal.

"It's been known for a long time that excess anti-inflammatory medication, such as cortisone, slows wound healing. This study goes a long way to telling us why: insulin-like growth factor and other materials released by inflammatory cells helps wound to heal."

The find is published in the FASEB Journal. (ANI)