Thymoquinone inhibited the chondrogenic differentiation of tendon-derived stem cells caused by tendon injury

Figure 5 Thymoquinone treatment reinstated the expression of tenocyte markers, while concurrently diminishing the expression of chondrocyte markers in injured rat tendons. Reverse transcription-quantitative polymerase chain reaction was employed to assess the expression levels of tenocyte markers (collagen I, scleraxis, tenomodulin), and chondrocyte markers (collagen II, aggrecan, SOX9), across different experimental groups. ^aP < 0.05, compared to the control group; ^bP < 0.01, compared to the control group; ^cP < 0.05, comparisons between the experimental group; ^dP < 0.01, comparisons between the experimental groups. The control group refers to tendons from rats maintained under standard cage activity conditions; the injury group refers to tendons from rats subjected to treadmill running without subsequent treatment; the injury + dimethyl sulfoxide group refers to tendons from rats subjected to treadmill running that subsequently received injections of saline solution containing dimethyl sulfoxide; the injury + thymoquinone group refers to tendons from rats subjected to treadmill running that subsequently received injections of thymoquinone. DMSO: Dimethyl sulfoxide; TQ: Thymoquinone; SCX: Scleraxis; TNMD: Tenomodulin.