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If you’ll excuse the pun, every athlete, whether amateur or professional, has an Achilles heel. Soft tissue injuries of the muscles, tendons and ligaments are extremely common in active people — no matter what the activity — and most of these injuries result from the overuse of tendons. Strong tendons deliver strength, power and speed — derived from their intact composition of extracellular matrix collagens, proteoglycans and elastic fibers — but they are also highly prone to injury.

GELITA’s TENDOFORTE^® has a pronounced stimulatory impact on the biosynthesis of extracellular matrix molecules in tendons, ligaments and, potentially, fascia tissue, and has been investigated as a nutritional intervention to support tendon and ligament problems. Specific Bioactive Collagen Peptides (BCP^®s) from GELITA have been designed to increase the health and quality of both ligaments and tendons, and a number of preclinical and clinical trials have demonstrated the positive effects of TENDOFORTE^®, especially when combined with physical activity.

Previous data, for example, has shown that specific Bioactive Collagen Peptides (BCP^®s) stimulate the RNA-expression and biosynthesis of collagen, proteoglycans and elastin in Achilles tendons and ligament fibroblasts. More recent research has shown that the oral ingestion of specific collagen peptides improves the extension properties of finger joints, owing to strengthened tendons and ligaments.

Now, in an article published in nutrients, an Australian Institute of Sport study has investigated whether oral supplementation with specific collagen peptides improves the symptoms and tendon vascularization in patients with chronic mid-portion Achilles tendinopathy in combination with structured exercise. The peer-reviewed paper describes how participants were given a placebo or specific collagen peptides (TENDOFORTE^®) in combination with a bidaily calf-strengthening program for 6 months.

Group AB received specific Bioactive Collagen Peptides (BCP^®s) for the first 3 months before crossing over to the placebo, whereas Group BA received the placebo first before crossing over to TENDOFORTE^®. Linear mixed modeling statistics showed that, after 3 months, Victorian Institute of Sports Assessment–Achilles (VISA-A) scores increased significantly in group AB (12.6) compared with 5.3 in group BA. After crossing over, both groups showed significant improvements in VISA-A of 5.9 (AB) and 17.7 (BA). No adverse advents were reported. The VISA-A is a self-administered eight-point questionnaire that evaluates chronic Achilles tendinopathy symptoms and their effect on physical activity; it effectively evaluates the clinical severity for patients and can be used to assess different populations and facilitate comparisons between studies.

In addition, microvascularity decreased in both groups to a similar extent and was moderately associated with VISA-A. In real-life terms, subjects with long-term symptoms of chronic Achilles tendinopathy were able to return to training within 3 months, when supplementing with TENDOFORTE^®, and were able to keep running for the remainder of the trial period. The authors concluded that the oral supplementation of specific Bioactive Collagen Peptides (BCP^®s) may accelerate the clinical benefits of a well-structured calf-strengthening and return-to-running program in Achilles tendinopathy patients. In summary, the risk of injury decreases considerably whilst flexibility improves. TENDOFORTE^® significantly strengthens tendons and ligaments and more studies are under way.

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