Vitamin C Supplementation in Tissue-Engineered Equine Tendon Constructs

Though a bit hard to follow, the bottom line is that increasing vitamin C levels positively affects tendon healing. Not answered are dosages and whether systemic or local treatment would be necessary for a positive effect. Concentrations of vitamin C tested were much higher than that found in unsupplemented horses. The take home message is that vitamin C supplementation makes sense during tendon healing but how much and how given to get a positive effect are not known.
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Examining the Potential of Vitamin C Supplementation in Tissue-Engineered Equine Superficial Digital Flexor Tendon Constructs
Int J Mol Sci. 2023 Dec 4;24(23):17098. doi: 10.3390/ijms242317098.
Authors
Michael J Mienaltowski 1 , Mitchell Callahan 1 , Nicole L Gonzales 2 , Angelique Wong 1
Affiliations

1 Department of Animal Science, College of Agricultural & Environmental Sciences, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.
2 School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California Davis, Davis, CA 95616, USA.

PMID: 38069418
PMCID: PMC10707379
DOI: 10.3390/ijms242317098

Free PMC article
Abstract

Because equine tendinopathies are slow to heal and often recur, therapeutic strategies are being considered that aid tendon repair. Given the success of utilizing vitamin C to promote tenogenesis in other species, we hypothesized that vitamin C supplementation would produce dose-dependent improvements in the tenogenic properties of tendon proper (TP) and peritenon (PERI) cells of the equine superficial digital flexor tendon (SDFT). Equine TP- and PERI-progenitor-cell-seeded fibrin three-dimensional constructs were supplemented with four concentrations of vitamin C. The gene expression profiles of the constructs were assessed with 3′-Tag-Seq and real-time quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR); collagen content and fibril ultrastructure were also analyzed. Moreover, cells were challenged with dexamethasone to determine the levels of cytoprotection afforded by vitamin C. Expression profiling demonstrated that vitamin C had an anti-inflammatory effect on TP and PERI cell constructs. Moreover, vitamin C supplementation mitigated the degenerative pathways seen in tendinopathy and increased collagen content in tendon constructs. When challenged with dexamethasone in two-dimensional culture, vitamin C had a cytoprotective effect for TP cells but not necessarily for PERI cells. Future studies will explore the effects of vitamin C on these cells during inflammation and within the tendon niche in vivo.

Keywords: equine; peritenon; tendon; three-dimensional construct; vitamin C.
Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.