Post-traumatic recovery of muscle soleus in rats is improved via synergistic effect of C 60 fullerene and TRPM8 agonist menthol

Functional biomechanical parameters of muscle soleus contraction in rats as well as selected blood biochemical parameters were studied during the first 3 days of post-traumatic syndrome progression caused by the destruction of muscle cells by compression. Single administration of the antioxidant C60 fullerene and the selective agonist of TRPM8 channels menthol were used as therapeutic agents. Injection of C60 fullerene at a concentration of 1 mg/kg into the damaged muscle improved its contractile function by 25–28%. The use of combined injections of C60 fullerene and menthol (at the concentration 1 mg/kg) improved this index by additional 27–39% and simultaneously stabilized the decrease in muscle strength observed throughout the experiment. A tendency towards a decrease in the indexes of the above described biochemical parameters by 10–15% were found with the therapeutic administration of C60 fullerene. With combined injections of C60 fullerene and menthol, the above described biochemical parameters decreased by an additional 17–24%. The synergism between the action of menthol and C60 fullerene on the post-traumatic recovery of skeletal muscle function opens up new perspectives for the clinical application of this combination therapy.