Tendons are anatomical structures located between the muscle and the bone, whose function is to transmit the force generated by the muscle to the bone, giving rise to joint movement. The influence of genetics in tendon pathologies is increasingly known, which allows a more exhaustive knowledge of the interpretation of genetic variations, not only in the causes of tendinopathies but also in other aspects such as susceptibility, prognosis and individual response to treatments.
Tendinopathies in upper extremities (arms)
The rotator cuff muscles are small, stabilizing muscles of the shoulder joint that allow precise and coordinated shoulder movements. They are composed of four muscles (supraspinatus, subscapularis, teres minor and infraspinatus) and their responsible tendons.
Of the four rotator cuff muscles, the most frequently injured tendon is the supraspinatus. Injury to this tendon occurs mainly due to tissue degeneration due to vascularization deficits, direct trauma or overload due to exhaustive use with different workloads.
One of the main characteristics associated with the tendon is its ability to modulate, and therefore its potential ability to recover from injury. To this end, it is important to know the intrinsic, individual, genetic, biomechanical and environmental factors that interact with each other and that make it possible to prevent and optimize recovery from tendinopathies.
Genes analyzed
Bibliography
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Kluger R, Burgstaller J, Vogl C, Brem G, Skultety M, Mueller S. Candidate gene approach identifies six SNPs in tenascin-C (TNC) associated with degenerative rotator cuff tears. J Orthop Res, 2017; 35(4):894–901.
Motta G da R, Amaral MV, Rezende E, Pitta R, dos Santos Vieira TC, Duarte MEL, et al. Evidence of genetic variations associated with rotator cuff disease. J Shoulder Elb Surg, 2014; 23(2):227–35.
Vaughn NH, Stepanyan H, Gallo RA, Dhawan A. Genetic Factors in Tendon Injury: A Systematic Review of the Literature. Orthop J Sport Med, 2017; 5(8):232596711772441.
