PMID- 35484550 OWN - NLM STAT- MEDLINE DCOM- 20220502 LR - 20220716 IS - 1471-2474 (Electronic) IS - 1471-2474 (Linking) VI - 23 IP - 1 DP - 2022 Apr 28 TI - Low-frequency electrical stimulation alleviates immobilization-evoked disuse muscle atrophy by repressing autophagy in skeletal muscle of rabbits. PG - 398 LID - 10.1186/s12891-022-05350-5 [doi] LID - 398 AB - BACKGROUND: The study aimed to investigate the effect of low-frequency electrical stimulation (LFES) on disuse muscle atrophy and its mechanism in a rabbit model of knee extension contracture. METHODS: This study involved two experiments. In the time-point experiment, 24 rabbits were randomly divided into 4 groups: Control 1 (Ctrl1 group), immobilization for 2 weeks (I-2 group), immobilization for 4 weeks (I-4 group), and immobilization for 6 weeks (I-6 group). In the intervention experiment, 24 rabbits were randomly divided into 4 groups: Control 2 (Ctrl2 group), electrical stimulation (ESG group), natural recovery (NRG group), and electrical stimulation treatment (ESTG group). All intervention effects were assessed by evaluating the knee joint range of motion (ROM), cross-sectional area (CSA) of the rectus femoris muscle, and expression of autophagy-related proteins. RESULTS: The time-point experiment showed that immobilization reduced the knee ROM, reduced the rectus femoris muscle CSA, and activated autophagy in skeletal muscle. The levels of five autophagy-related proteins [mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR), phosphorylated mTOR (p-mTOR), autophagy-related protein 7 (Atg7), p62, and microtubule-associated protein light chain 3B-II (LC3B-II)] were significantly elevated in the skeletal muscle of the I-4 group. The intervention experiment further showed that LFES significantly improved the immobilization-induced reductions in ROM and CSA. Additionally, LFES resulted in a significant decrease in the protein expression of mTOR, p-mTOR, Atg7, p62, and LC3B-II in the rectus femoris muscle. CONCLUSIONS: LFES alleviates immobilization-evoked disuse muscle atrophy possibly by inhibiting autophagy in the skeletal muscle of rabbits. CI - (c) 2022. The Author(s). FAU - Liu, A-Ying AU - Liu AY AD - Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No.678 Furong Road, Economic and Technological Development Zone, Hefei, 230601, China. FAU - Zhang, Quan-Bing AU - Zhang QB AD - Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No.678 Furong Road, Economic and Technological Development Zone, Hefei, 230601, China. FAU - Zhu, Hua-Long AU - Zhu HL AD - Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Hefei, China. AD - Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China. FAU - Xiong, Yong-Wei AU - Xiong YW AD - Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Hefei, China. AD - Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China. FAU - Wang, Feng AU - Wang F AD - Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No.678 Furong Road, Economic and Technological Development Zone, Hefei, 230601, China. FAU - Huang, Peng-Peng AU - Huang PP AD - Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No.678 Furong Road, Economic and Technological Development Zone, Hefei, 230601, China. FAU - Xu, Qi-Yu AU - Xu QY AD - Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No.678 Furong Road, Economic and Technological Development Zone, Hefei, 230601, China. FAU - Zhong, Hua-Zhang AU - Zhong HZ AD - Department of Orthopedics, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, Hefei, China. FAU - Wang, Hua AU - Wang H AD - Key Laboratory of Environmental Toxicology of Anhui Higher Education Institutes, Hefei, China. wanghuadev@126.com. AD - Department of Toxicology, School of Public Health, Anhui Medical University, Hefei, 230032, China. wanghuadev@126.com. FAU - Zhou, Yun AU - Zhou Y AD - Department of Rehabilitation Medicine, The Second Hospital of Anhui Medical University, No.678 Furong Road, Economic and Technological Development Zone, Hefei, 230601, China. zhouyunanhui@sina.com. LA - eng GR - 2018xkj050/Anhui Medical University Research Foundation/ GR - 2021LCXK031/Clinical Medicine Discipline Construction Project of Anhui Medical University/ GR - 201904a07020067/Anhui Key Research and Development Program/ GR - amu202210/Anhui Medical University Clinical Medicine Discipline Construction Project Clinical and Preliminary Co-construction Discipline Project/ PT - Journal Article DEP - 20220428 PL - England TA - BMC Musculoskelet Disord JT - BMC musculoskeletal disorders JID - 100968565 RN - 0 (Autophagy-Related Proteins) RN - EC 2.7.11.1 (TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases) SB - IM MH - Animals MH - Autophagy/physiology MH - Autophagy-Related Proteins/metabolism MH - *Contracture MH - Electric Stimulation MH - Humans MH - Mammals MH - Muscle, Skeletal/pathology MH - *Muscular Atrophy/etiology/therapy MH - Rabbits MH - TOR Serine-Threonine Kinases/metabolism PMC - PMC9047266 OTO - NOTNLM OT - Autophagy OT - Disuse muscle atrophy OT - Knee extension contracture OT - Low-frequency electrical stimulation COIS- The submitted content has not been previously published and is not currently under consideration for publication in any other scientific journal. We have no conflicts of interest to disclose. EDAT- 2022/04/29 06:00 MHDA- 2022/05/03 06:00 PMCR- 2022/04/28 CRDT- 2022/04/28 23:47 PHST- 2021/10/22 00:00 [received] PHST- 2022/04/18 00:00 [accepted] PHST- 2022/04/28 23:47 [entrez] PHST- 2022/04/29 06:00 [pubmed] PHST- 2022/05/03 06:00 [medline] PHST- 2022/04/28 00:00 [pmc-release] AID - 10.1186/s12891-022-05350-5 [pii] AID - 5350 [pii] AID - 10.1186/s12891-022-05350-5 [doi] PST - epublish SO - BMC Musculoskelet Disord. 2022 Apr 28;23(1):398. doi: 10.1186/s12891-022-05350-5.