Volumetric muscle loss (VML) is a type of combat injury that results in massive loss of skeletal muscle such that the injured person may never be able to function in the same way again due to permanent loss of strength and dexterity. Therefore, it is of extreme interest to develop treatments for this type of injury that can regrow the essential components of the injured muscles in the body such that strength and dexterity are sufficiently restored to enable return to duty of the Wounded Warrior and ultimately a greater quality of life during and after their service. Unfortunately, the best available treatments for regrowing these injured muscles are limited from completely healing the injury by the natural bias of the body to scar. As such, one approach to encourage regrowth of muscle is the application of drugs that might prevent scarring so that the treatments that produce new muscle can function better. Our group has identified a new drug, mCAR513, which shows potential for scar prevention and may be the necessary key to unlocking our ability to treat this type of combat injury. As such, we are proposing to determine whether or not the drug is actually helpful in growing new muscle. If successful, the study will represent a significant advance in the treatment of VML injuries with the potential to revolutionize the way we care for our wounded Service Members, and promote increased readiness of our Armed Forces. |
