Effect of an Exercise Training Course and Bone Marrow-Derived Stem Cell injection on Pax7 and Myogenin Expression in a Rat Model of Arthritis

Osteoarthritis is one of the most common arthritic diseases and a main cause of pain and disability. Simultaneous downexpression of paired box 7 (Pax7) and myogenin genes, as indicators of satellite cells activation is evident in osteoarthritis. This study assessed effects of an exercise training course and stem cell injection on the expression of Pax7 and myogenin in gastrocnemius muscle of rats with arthritis.

Thirty five male rats aged 6–8 weeks and weighing 250–300 g were divided into five groups: control, patient, exercise, mesenchymal stem cell (MSC), and exercise+MSC. Osteoarthritis was induced in rats by surgery. The training program consisted of 30 minutes of running on a non-slip treadmill at a speed of 16 m/min. The rats were injected with 1×106 cells/kg MSC. The expression of Pax7 and myogenin was measured by real–time PCR. Data were analysed with SPSS (version 23) using one-way analysis of variance.  

Both Pax7 and myogenin were significantly overexpressed in the exercise+MSC group compared to the patient group (P<0.001).

The combination of MSC therapy and training had more positive effects on Pax7 and myogenin expression compared to training and MSC therapy alone.