Zili Wang

Aims: Rotator cuff muscle atrophy and fatty infiltration affect the clinical outcomes of rotator cuff tear patients. However, there is no effective treatment for fatty infiltration at this time. High-intensity interval training (HIIT) helps to activate beige adipose tissue. The goal of this study was to test the role of HIIT in improving muscle quality in a rotator cuff tear model via the β3 adrenergic receptor (β3AR).Methods: Three-month-old C57BL/6 J mice underwent a unilateral rotator cuff injury procedure. Mice were forced to run on a treadmill with the HIIT programme during the first to sixth weeks or seventh to 12th weeks after tendon tear surgery. To study the role of β3AR, SR59230A, a selective β3AR antagonist, was administered to mice ten minutes before each exercise through intraperitoneal injection. Supraspinatus muscle, interscapular brown fat, and inguinal subcutaneous white fat were harvested at the end of the 12th week after tendon tear and analyzed biomechanically, histologically, and biochemically.Results: Histological analysis of supraspinatus muscle showed that HIIT improved muscle atrophy, fatty infiltration, and contractile force compared to the no exercise group. In the HIIT groups, supraspinatus muscle, interscapular brown fat, and inguinal subcutaneous white fat showed increased expression of tyrosine hydroxylase and uncoupling protein 1, and upregulated the β3AR thermogenesis pathway. However, the effect of HIIT was not present in mice injected with SR59230A, suggesting that HIIT affected muscles via β3AR.Conclusion: HIIT improved supraspinatus muscle quality and function after rotator cuff tears by activating systemic sympathetic nerve fibre near adipocytes and β3AR.Cite this article: Bone Joint Res 2023;12(8):455–466.

Senescent cells exert a significant influence over their surrounding cellular environment. Senescent chondrocytes (SnChos) were found to be accumulated in degenerated cartilage present in joints affected by osteoarthritis. The influence of SnChos on exogenously transplanted stem cells has yet to be reported. In this study, we evaluated the interactions between SnChos and bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs) when co-cultured as well as in the intra-articular senescent microenvironment (IASM). The effect of IASM on cartilage regeneration was also assessed. It was found that a small fraction of SnChos induced BMSC cellular senescence and apoptosis. SnChos also inhibited proliferation, facilitated stemness, and suppressed chondrogenic differentiation of BMSCs. BMSCs induced the apoptosis of SnChos, reduced the proportion of SnChos, stimulated SnChos proliferation, and revealed a bidirectional effect on SnChos inflammaging. IASM significantly suppressed the survival, proliferation, and appropriate differentiation of grafted BMSCs in vivo, all of which impaired cartilage regeneration. Anti-senescence agent ABT-263 was able to partly rescue the cells from the negative effects of SnChos. The SnChos and BMSCs interacted with each other at cellular senescence, apoptosis, proliferation, differentiation, and cell functions. This interaction impaired the cartilage repair of MSCs. Anti-senescence agent provided a possible solution for this impairment.