Introduction. Numerous investigations have been carried out to describe the role of massage in preparing for and restoring efficiency after physical exercise. Furthermore, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) enhances blood vessel growth, and in effect contributes to the regeneration of tissues. Since its expression in active skeletal muscles has not been yet determined, the aim of this study was to investigate whether muscle massage performed before and during running exercise affects the expression of VEGF-A in muscles.

Material and methods. The study was carried out on 75 adult Buffalo rats subjected to running exercise training for 10 weeks. Rats were massaged prior (group PM) or during exercise (group M) or were not massaged (group C). The massage consisted of spiral movements along the plantar surface of flexor digitorum brevis muscle. After 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 week of training, five rats from every group were anesthetized and immunohistochemistry, Western blot, and PCR analyses were performed on obtained muscle tissue to determine VEGF-A expression.

Results. After the first week of training, a significant increase of VEGF-A gene expression analyzed by qPCR in muscle tissue was observed in the PM group, whereas in the third week, the predominant growth of studied marker was seen in the M group. Increased VEGF-A expression on the protein level was observed in both massaged groups following the first week. A moderate positive correlation was found between the expression of the VEGF-A gene and protein in all experimental groups (r = 0.389).

Conclusion. Short-term repeated massage may contribute to processes of creation of new and development of already existing vascular networks in the skeletal muscle tissue during increased exercise.