It has recently been postulated that diaphragm fatigue may be due, at least in part, to a form of low-grade injury to subcellular organelles. Moreover, several studies have shown that thiol-containing compounds can protect cardiac and striated skeletal muscle organelles from the deleterious effects of a number of physiological stresses. The purpose of the present study was to determine whether pretreatment with N-acetylcysteine (NAC), a thiol-containing compound, would attenuate the rate of development of diaphragmatic fatigue. Studies were performed with the use of an in situ rabbit diaphragm strip preparation that permitted direct and continuous measurement of diaphragm tension development. Diaphragm fatigue was induced by rhythmically stimulating strips to contract at 30/min (20-Hz trains) for 20 min. The diaphragm force-frequency relationship (10-, 20-, 50-, and 100-Hz stimuli) was assessed immediately before and after fatigue trials and then again 20 min into the period of recovery. Half the animals were treated with intravenous NAC before fatigue, whereas the remaining animals were given intravenous saline. The rate of development of fatigue was markedly greater in saline-treated control than in NAC-treated animals, with reductions in tension of 55 +/- 3 and 34 +/- 3%, respectively, in these two groups of animals over 20 min (P less than 0.001). Although rhythmic stimulation resulted in a downward shift in the force-frequency relationship in both NAC- and saline-treated animals, the magnitude of this shift was substantially greater in saline-treated animals (P less than 0.001).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Although it is known that endotoxin can induce diaphragmatic dysfunction, the mechanism of this effect is not fully understood. However, because the effects of endotoxin on other tissues appear to be mediated in part by free radicals, the present study sought to determine if free radicals may also contribute to the diaphragmatic dysfunction induced by endotoxin administration. Studies were performed on four groups of hamsters. One group of animals received intraperitoneal injections of endotoxin on the first and second days of study (i.e., 10 and 20 mg/kg, respectively). The second group received saline rather than endotoxin, the third group received both endotoxin and a free radical scavenger, PEG-SOD (2,000 U/kg given intraperitoneally every 12 h on Days 1 and 2), and the fourth group received PEG-SOD alone. All groups were killed on the third study day (i.e., 48 h after the initial injections). Diaphragmatic contractile function was assessed in vitro using muscle strips excised from the costal diaphragms of freshly killed animals; diaphragm samples were also assayed for malondialdehyde (MDA), a commonly used index of free-radical-mediated lipid peroxidation. MDA levels were higher in diaphragms from endotoxin-treated animals than from saline-treated control animals, and the contractility of diaphragm strips from endotoxin-treated animals was reduced when compared with strips from saline-treated control animals. Administration of PEG-SOD prevented MDA formation and contractile dysfunction in endotoxin-treated animals. Diaphragm contractility and MDA levels for animals given PEG-SOD alone were similar to those for saline-treated control animals.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
We studied gene expression and production of TNF-alpha in the diaphragm tissue and changes of muscle contractile properties after endotoxin injection (Escherichia coli, 20 mg/kg) in 88 rats. We assessed the muscle contractile properties by force-frequency curves and twitch kinetics using dissected diaphragm muscle strips. The peak tensions of force-frequency curves decreased from control values (2.15 +/- 0.2 kg/cm2) up to 4 h (0.81 +/- 0.17, p < 0.001), and then increased at 6 h (1.36 +/- 0.19, p < 0.05) after endotoxin injection. The cytotoxic activity on L929 cells in arterial blood samples maximally increased at 2 h (p < 0.001), then decreased to 6 h (p < 0.05). TNF-alpha mRNA in diaphragm tissue was detected by Northern blot method at 1 and 1.5 h, and the immunolocalization of TNF-alpha was evaluated at 2 and 4 h by immunohistochemistry in the muscle tissues. Furthermore, preinjection with anti-m TNF-alpha antibody prevented the decrement of force-frequency curves after endotoxin injection of 10 microliters/kg. From this evidence that TNF-alpha gene expression and production occurred in the diaphragm tissue, but anti-m TNF-alpha antibody preinjection prevented the deterioration of diaphragm muscle contractile properties, we suggest that TNF-alpha may act on muscle cells extracellularly.
We examined the relationship between the frequency of stimulation of the genioglossus and upper airway resistance in six anesthetized dogs in the supine position. The upper airway was isolated from the lower airway by transecting the cervical trachea, and the pressure flow relationship of the upper airway was obtained by applying constant negative pressure (5, 10, and 20 cm H2O) to the proximal cut end of the trachea. Electrical stimulation of the genioglossus was performed at a constant voltage (10 to 20 V) and at various frequencies (as high as 100 Hz). Upper airway resistance (Rua) during both inspiration and expiration increased with an increase in tracheal negative pressure, and at each tracheal negative pressure Rua was significantly reduced by stimulation of the genioglossus. The effects of genioglossal muscle stimulation were nonlinearly dependent on the stimulating frequency. Below 50 Hz, Rua decreased markedly as the stimulating frequency was increased, but above 50 Hz, Rua plateaued at a minimum value. These findings suggest that at a stimulating frequency of more than 50 Hz, upper airway patency is stably maintained in anesthetized dogs.
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