CHRISTOPHER EVANS COMMENTS ON PRP ARTICLE (Orthopedics This Week)
June 5, 2013 scientific article by Satoshi Terada, M.D., et al. recently appeared in the Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery (JBJS). The study, “Use of an Antifibrotic Agent Improves the Effect of Platelet-Rich Plasma [PRP] on Muscle Healing After Injury,” was sufficiently interesting to provoke an invited commentary. Christopher H. Evans, Ph.D., D.Sc. of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts, was a referee on the paper and was asked by those at JBJS to give his thoughts.
Dr. Evans, concerned about PRP being the latest ortho-panacea, says it is “administered promiscuously for whatever ails the musculoskeletal system.” Interestingly, he notes that ingredients that are an advantage in one setting may be a disadvantage in another. For example, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a prominent angiogenic component of PRP, might be helpful for bone healing, which has an absolute need for angiogenesis, but a hindrance for repairing cartilage, which is avascular.
Dr. Evans indicates that Dr. Terada and colleagues do address the point that PRP cannot be all things to all tissues. Their solution is to...
