Ashril Yusof

Introduction: The impact of musculoskeletal injuries often caused loss time in sport participation. Athletes who suffered from these injuries experienced a decrease in performance and physical disability. Although a variety of treatments have been implemented to the muscle injuries, the administration of autologous blood injection is replacing the conventional rehabilitation to expedite the process of muscle recovery. Platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is relatively new in muscle injury treatment and there is lack of evidence of the satisfaction of PRP treatment in muscle injuries. Purposes: The study aimed to investigate the patient satisfaction in the administration of PRP treatment and rehabilitation program for acute hamstring strain injury. Methods: Participants (competitive, semi-competitive and recreational athletes) with acute hamstring strain injury (Grade II) were recruited. Participants were randomly divided into either the PRP treatment or rehabilitation program. Participants were required to attend weekly follow up assessment for recovery evaluation. All the participants were required to complete a patient satisfaction questionnaire (PSQ-18) at the end of study.  The questionnaire is divided into seven sub-scales: general satisfaction, technical quality, interpersonal manner, communication, financial aspect, time spent with doctor, accessibility and convenience. Results: Participants were 22.35 ± 3.41 years. Duration from injury to first presentation in clinic ranged from two to ten days. Mean duration of recovery was 5.64 weeks. No statistically significant difference in the patient satisfaction sub-scales score between the two groups (p>0.05). Conclusion: The present study demonstrates that PRP treatment is as satisfactory as conventional rehabilitation program in managing acute hamstring strain injury. Both  modalities are correspondingly safe and have high degree of satisfaction. Given the acceptable outcomes, patients are likely to accept PRP as an effective treatment.

The high risk of knee injuries in female may be associated with sex-steroid hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle by its effect on ligaments and tendons stiffness. This study examined changes in knee range of motion in presence of estrogen and progesterone and investigated the interaction of their antagonists to relaxin receptors. Sixty WKY rats were divided into 10 different groups receiving 17β-estradiol (0.2, 2, 20 and 50μg/kg), progesterone (4mg/kg), estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist ICI 182/780, ERβ antagonist PHTPP, ERα antagonist MPP, and mifepristone in presence of estrogen and progesterone. Physiologic dose were injected subcutaneously 30min before of hormone injection for 3 days consequently. Sham group received peanut oil (vehicle) also for 3 consecutive days. Following the treatment administrations, the knee range of motion and RXFP1/RXFP2 mRNA and protein expression were examined in the patellar tendon, lateral collateral ligament, and hamstring muscle. Our data showed that the knee range of motion was significantly increased in progesterone and high doses estrogen treatment but not significantly increased in low doses of estrogen treatment. The range of motion was decreased in the presence of estrogen receptor (ER) antagonist ICI 182/780, ERβ antagonist PHTPP, ERα antagonist MPP, and mifepristone, independently. Progesterone and high doses of estrogen treatment resulted in the highest range of knee laxity correlated to expression of both relaxin receptor isoforms in knee tissues. Our findings thus suggested that female subjects are more vulnerable toward non-traumatic knee injury due to estrogen and progesterone fluctuation as compared to male subjects.

To identify the effect of additional elastic force on the kinetic and kinematic characteristics, as well as the magnitude of leg stiffness, during the performance of accentuated countermovement jumps (CMJs). Fifteen trained male subjects performed 3 types of CMJ including free CMJ (FCMJ; ie, body weight), ACMJ-20, and ACMJ-30 (ie, accentuated eccentric CMJ with downward tensile force equivalent to 20% and 30% body mass, respectively). A force platform synchronized with 6 high-speed infrared cameras was used to measure vertical ground-reaction force (VGRF) and displacement. Using downward tensile force during the lowering phase of a CMJ and releasing the bands at the start of the concentric phase increased maximal concentric VGRF (6.34%), power output (23.21%), net impulse (16.65%), and jump height (9.52%) in ACMJ-30 compared with FCMJ (all P < .05). However, no significant difference was observed in the magnitude of leg stiffness between the 3 modes of jump. The results indicate ...

Background/objective: The purpose of the present study was to evaluate the effect of fenugreek seed extract in combination with swimming exercise compared to glibenclamide consumption on type 2 diabetic rats.
Design: The acute toxicity test was carried out to choose the safe doses and identify the toxicity effects of the fenugreek seed extract. To investigate the hypoglycemic effect of the extract and its effect in combination with swimming training, 80 Wistar Kyoto male streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats were divided randomly into eight groups: diabetic control (C); fenugreek seed extract 0.8 g/kg (F1); fenugreek extract 1.6 g/kg (F2); swimming training (S); swimming training plus fenugreek extract 0.8 g/kg (SF1); swimming training plus fenugreek extract 1.6 g/kg (SF2); glibenclamide (G) and swimming training plus glibenclamide (SG). The rats were orally administrated with the treatments once a day with the respective treatment, and the training groups were subjected to swimming training every day for 60 min. Fasting blood samples were collected to measure fasting blood glucose, lipid profile, adiponectin, leptin, and insulin concentrations.
Results: The results obtained from acute toxicity study showed no toxicity effect of fenugreek seed extract on the tested dose. Biochemical analysis showed significant improvements in all of the groups compared to the control group (p<0.05). Plasma insulin concentration and insulin resistance (HOMA-IR) was significantly reduced in treated groups compared with the diabetic control group. Plasma leptin were significantly decreased in treated groups compared with the control group; while adiponectin had markedly increased (p<0.05).
Conclusion: The findings suggest that fenugreek seed consuming, alongside swimming exercise, has a strong therapeutic effect on the improvement of diabetic parameters.

Abstract
Purpose: Running at high speed and sudden change in direction or activity stresses the knee. Surprisingly, not many studies have investigated the effects of sprinting on knee’s kinetics and kinematics of soccer players. Hence, this study is aimed to investigate indices of injury risk factors of jumping-landing maneuvers performed immediately after sprinting in male soccer players. Methods: Twenty-three collegiate male soccer players (22.1±1.7 years) were tested in four conditions;
vertical jump (VJ), vertical jump immediately after slow running (VJSR), vertical jump immediately after sprinting (VJFR) and double horizontal jump immediately after sprinting
(HJFR). The kinematics and kinetics data were measured using Vicon motion analyzer (100Hz) and two Kistler force platforms (1000Hz), respectively. Results: For knee flexion joint angle, (p = 0.014, η = 0.15) and knee valgus moment (p = 0.001, η =
0.71) differences between condition in the landing phase were found. For knee valgus joint angle, a main effect between legs in the jumping phase was found (p = 0.006, η = 0.31),
which suggests bilateral deficit existed between the right and left lower limbs. Conclusion: In brief, the important findings were greater knee valgus moment and less knee flexion joint
angle proceeding sprint (HJFR & VJFR) rather than no sprint condition (VJ) present an increased risk for knee injuries. These results seem to suggest that running and sudden subsequent jumping-landing activity experienced during playing soccer may negativelychange the knee valgus moment. Thus, sprinting preceding a jump task may increase knee risk factors such as moment and knee flexion joint angle.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the pattern of muscle injuries and the factors that predict the return-to-play duration among Malaysian athletes. This is a retrospective review of the case notes of athletes who attended the National Sports Institute Clinic in Malaysia. The medical records of athletes with muscle injury, diagnosed on clinical assessment and confirmed by diagnostic ultrasonography, were included for final analysis. From June 2006 to December 2009, 397 cases of muscle injury were diagnosed among 360 athletes. The median age of the athletes with muscle injuries was 20.0 years. Muscle injuries were mostly diagnosed among national-level athletes and frequently involved the lower limb, specifically the hamstring muscle group. Nearly all of the athletes (99.2%) were treated conservatively. The median return-to-play duration was 7.4 weeks. Athletes who waited more than one week before seeking medical attention, those with recurrent muscle injuries and female ath...

ABSTRACT Anthropometric factors such as body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHR), wiast and hip circumference are indices for predicting of health problems such as obesity and cardiovascular risk. This aim of this study was to investigate the effects of injury prevention warm-up programs on anthropometric factors measures of professional male soccer players. The young soccer players (U21 old-years-age) soccer player assigned into the 11+, HarmoKnee(HK) and control groups. The anthropometric factors carried out were: weight, BMI, waist circumference, hip circumference and WHR. The results showed significant differences between the 11+ (p=0.049) and HK (p=0.019) compared to the control group in waist circumferences. Significant difference was found between the 11+ (p=0.03) compared to the control group in WHR. It concluded that the 11+ is more beneficial than HK for improving WHR. This data can be useful for coaches and trainer and clubs for designing and using the best prevent...

The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of the 11+ and HarmoKnee warm-up programs on performance measures in professional soccer players. Thirty-six male professional soccer players (age: 18.9 ± 1.4 years) were divided into 3 groups, the 11+, HarmoKnee and control group (n = 12 per group). The experimental groups performed the programs 3 times per week for 2 months (24 sessions), whereas the control group only performed their regular soccer training. The per-formance tests carried out were: 10m speed tests with and with-out a ball, 20m single sprint, vertical jump, Wall-Volley and Illinois agility tests. The 11+ group demonstrated significant increases from pre-to-post time points in the vertical jump (3.7%), Wall-Volley (5.4%) and Illinois agility tests (1.7%), while the HarmoKnee group showed a significant increase in Wall-Volley test, with a 5.2% increase. The repeated measures analysis revealed differences between the groups (large effect size) in the 11+ and HarmoK...

ABSTRACT: The study investigates the effects of the 11+ and HarmoKnee injury prevention programs on knee strength in male soccer players. Under-21-year-old players (n=36) were divided equally into: the 11+, HarmoKnee and control groups. The programs were performed for 24 sessions (20-25 min each). The hamstrings and quadriceps strength were measured bilaterally at 60°.s-1, 180°.s-1 and 300°.s-1. The concentric quadriceps peak torque (PT) of the 11+ increased by 27.7% at 300°.s-1 in the dominant leg (p&lt;0.05). The concentric quadriceps PT of HarmoKnee increased by 36.6%, 36.2% and 28% in the dominant leg, and by 31.3%, 31.7% and 20.05% at 60°.s-1, 180°.s-1 and 300°.s-1 in the non-dominant leg respectively. In the 11+ group the concentric hamstring PT increased by 22%, 21.4% and 22.1% at 60°.s-1, 180°.s-1 and 300°.s-1, respectively in the dominant leg, and by 22.3%, and 15.7% at 60°.s-1 and 180°.s-1, in the non-dominant leg. In the HarmoKnee group the hamstrings in the dominant leg ...

Objective: To elucidate the testosterone hormone influences on knee joint range of motion (ROM), and the suppressory role of its antagonists; flutamide and finasteride on relaxin receptors in the patellar tendon and collateral ligament. Methods: forty-two ovariectomized females Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats 8-10 weeks, 180-200g of weight were distributed into seven groups. Peanut oil as a control, testosterone hormone (125 & 250 μg/kg), flutamide (10 mg/kg), and finasteride (20 mg/kg) separately in presence of two testosterone doses were injected subcutaneously for three consecutive days. The antagonists were administrated 30 minutes before the testosterone injection. Following the treatment administrations, the relationships of knee ROM and RXFP1/ RXFP2 mRNA and protein in knee tissues were investigated. Results: Our data showed that knee ROM was significantly decreased in the testosterone treated groups and increased in the presence of flutamide and finasteride, independently. These two...

A hamstring injury is one of the most common types of injury affecting athletes. Despite this, the optimal management of hamstring muscle injuries is not yet defined. The effect of autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) therapy on the recovery of hamstring injuries is unclear. To investigate the effect of a single PRP injection in the treatment of grade 2 hamstring muscle injuries. Randomized controlled trial; Level of evidence, 2. Twenty-eight patients diagnosed with an acute hamstring injury were randomly allocated to autologous PRP therapy combined with a rehabilitation program or a rehabilitation program only. The primary outcome of this study was time to return to play. In addition, changes in pain severity and pain interference scores over time were examined. Patients in the PRP group achieved full recovery significantly earlier than controls (P = .02). The mean time to return to play was 42.5 ± 20.6 days in the control group and 26.7 ± 7.0 days in the PRP group. Significantly ...

The incidence of non-contact knee injury was found higher in female than in male and is related to the phases of the menstrual cycle. This raised the possibility that female sex-steroids are involved in the mechanism underlying this injury via affecting the expression of the receptors for relaxin, a peptide hormone known to modulate ligament laxity. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of sex-steroids on relaxin receptor isoforms (RXFP1 &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; RXFP2) expression in the ligaments and tendons of the knee. Ovariectomized adult female WKY rats were treated with different doses of estrogen (0.2, 2, 20 μg/kg), progesterone (4mg) and testosterone (125 &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp; 250μg/kg) for three consecutive days. At the end of the treatment, the animals were sacrificed and the patellar tendon and lateral collateral ligament were harvested for mRNA and protein expression analyses by Real Time PCR and Western blotting respectively. RXFP1, the main isoform expressed in these knee structures and RXFP2 showed a dose-dependent increase in expression with estrogen. Progesterone treatment resulted in an increase while testosterone caused a dose-dependent decrease in the mRNA and protein expression of both relaxin receptor isoforms. Progesterone and high dose estrogen up-regulate while testosterone down-regulates RXFP1 and RXFP2 expression in the patellar tendon and lateral collateral ligament of rat&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;#39;s knee. Relaxin receptor isoforms up-regulation by progesterone and high dose estrogen could provide the basis for the reported increase in knee laxity while down-regulation of these receptor isoforms by testosterone could explain low incidence of non-contact knee injury in male.