Electrical stimulation attenuates morphological alterations and prevents atrophy of the denervated cranial tibial muscle

Abstract

Objective To investigate if electrical stimulation through Russian current is able to maintain morphology of the cranial tibial muscle of experimentally denervated rats.Methods Thirty-six Wistar rats were divided into four groups: the Initial Control Group, Final Control Group, Experimental Denervated and Treated Group, Experimental Denervated Group. The electrostimulation was performed with a protocol of Russian current applied three times per week, for 45 days. At the end, the animals were euthanized and histological and morphometric analyses were performed. Data were submitted to statistical analysis with a significance level of p<0.05.Results The Experimental Denervated Group and the Experimental Denervated and Treated Group had cross-sectional area of smaller fiber compared to the Final Control Group. However, there was significant difference between the Experimental Denervated Group and Experimental Denervated and Treated Group, showing that electrical stimulation minimized muscle atrophy. The Experimental Denervated and Treated Group and Initial Control Group showed similar results.Conclusion Electrical stimulation through Russian current acted favorably in maintaining morphology of the cranial tibial muscle that was experimentally denervated, minimizing muscle atrophy.

Proteomics and Transcriptomics Analysis Reveals Clues into the Mechanism of the Beneficial Effect of Electrical Stimulation on Rat Denervated Gastrocnemius Muscle

“…The ability of electrical stimulation to maintain the muscle wet weight, diameter, and CSA of denervated muscle support previous studies using low-frequency electrical stimulation [11][12][13][14], although the stimulation parameters were slightly different. More obvious change of fast-type fibers following electrical stimulation is likely due to the fact that electrical stimulation-induced contractions are non-selective and could recruit fast motor units at a low force level [33].…”

“…Electrical stimulation has been clinically used as a treatment to relieve the muscle mass loss in a denervated skeletal muscle [10]. The most important positive effects of electrical stimulation on denervated skeletal muscle are the maintenance of muscle size and improvement in the contractile properties [11][12][13][14]. Despite extensive effort, the underlying mechanism mediating these beneficial effects remains unclear.…”

Hypopigmentation with muscular and subcutaneous atrophy as a complication of Intralesional Steroid injection in Ganglion

“…The patient did well with this exercise regime. There are encouraging results of local electri-cal stimulation or focussed ultrasonic stimulation of atrophic muscles in stimulating the atrophic muscles to gain bulk and strength [11,12] . In our patient, local electrical stimulation was used initially for a month on alternate days and then exercise therapy was continued.…”

Nerve Root Reimplantation in Brachial Plexus Injuries

“…Moreover, the distance to cover by the regenerating axons from the SC avulsion site to the muscular end plates is so long that by the time the axons reach their destination, the muscles are atrophic and fibrotic [20,128]. To avoid and delay this muscle atrophy as much as possible, several strategies have been attempted: manipulating the molecular pathways involved in muscle atrophy [129][130][131], nerve transfers from neighboring functioning nerves [132][133][134][135][136], direct electrical stimulation of the affected muscles [137][138][139] and neuronal transplantation inside the denervated muscle [20,[140][141][142]. In rats, the combination of GDNF at the SC-NR injury site and embryonic spinal foetal neuron transplant inside the target muscles provided the best possible functional result [20].…”