Surgical repair of massive or recurrent tears of the shoulder’s rotator cuff tendons can be improved with the use of anabolic steroids, according to a new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The study was led by Dr. Spero Karas, assistant professor of orthopedic surgery in UNC’s School of Medicine and appeared in an issue of the American Journal of Sports Medicine.

From News-Medical.Net:

Anabolic steroids benefit millions of people a year, said Karas, including those with deficiencies in sex hormones and burn victims who need to build up their metabolism to repair musculoskeletal tissue. They also are FDA-approved for treating anemia for their ability to help the body rebuild blood.

As it’s widely known that anabolic steroids can build muscle mass and strength, Karas said he thought these properties might apply to shoulder tissue and that Banes’ bioartificial tendon might provide the appropriate model for testing.

“In this new study, supraspinatus tendon cells were harvested from my patients during rotator cuff surgery, isolated and then sent to Albert’s lab,” Karas said. “The cells were then grown in his culture media to coalesce and form this experimental tendon model, the bioartificial tendon.”

Karas said that it was clearly highlighted that bioartificial tendon matrices treated with anabolic steroid and mechanical load or strain showed considerable enhancements in their biomechanical characteristics.