LAUSR

Abstract Introduction Muscle injury has caused adverse impacts on athletes' performance. Muscle injury treatments are based on the degree of severity. Unfortunately, in extensive injuries, surgical treatments are often unsatisfactory especially in athletes with high functional demand. More effort is needed to achieve a better result in muscle injury healing. The use of platelet-rich fibrin (PRF) and mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) would provide all the necessary factors to achieve good tissue healing: cells, growth factors, and scaffold. The study aims to evaluate the role of PRF and MSC in facilitating the healing of muscle injury on animal models. Methods A model defect was created in the gastrocnemius muscle of each hind leg of twenty New Zealand white rabbits. All legs were randomly divided into four groups: (1) control; (2) PRF-only; (3) MSC-only, and (4) PRF-and-MSC group. After two and four weeks, the muscle was retrieved and sent for immunohistochemistry examination to evaluate the expression of Pax7 and MyoD protein. Results The mean score of all treated group was higher compared to the control group. The group that received both PRF and MSC showed the highest score. Conclusion Considering the promising result, application of PRF and MSC could be an option for the treatment of muscle injury as this would provide all necessary elements of tissue engineering to facilitate the healing process of muscle: the cells, the scaffold, and the growth factors.