Functional electrical stimulation improves endothelial function and reduces peripheral immune responses in patients with chronic heart failure

Abstract

FES is an exercise training programme that improves endothelial function in patients with chronic heart failure, and also has anti-inflammatory effects.

Application of neuromuscular electrical stimulation of the lower limb skeletal muscles in the rehabilitation of patients with chronic heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

“…The observed improvement of muscular strength applies to both isokinetic [14,21,22] and isometric [21] contractions. It seems that these changes are caused by the increase in aerobic enzyme activity of skeletal muscles, which, in turn, leads to an increased oxidative capacity [9,[12][13][14]18]. Moreover, it was observed through the biopsy procedure that due to the application of NMES, an increase in type I muscle fibers occurs, which proves the evident recalibration of the stimulated muscles in the direction of aerobic metabolism and endurance training [13].…”

“…In rare cases, patients with class IV symptoms also participated in the research. Some of the participants were either after a heart transplant or qualified for heart transplant surgery [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20].…”

“…The research demonstrated that the application of NMES in patients with CHF results in improvement of exercise tolerance indicators, such as: increased peak oxygen consumption, increased anaerobic threshold, increased duration of exercise tests and greater distance covered during the 6MWT test [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]. After a series of NMES treatment sessions, increased muscle endurance was also noted in patients with CHF [12].…”

“…Additionally, due to NMES treatment, a significantly reduced number of distilled forms of adhesive molecules, such as: intercellular adhesion molecule (sICAM-1) and vascular cell adhesion molecule (sVCAM-1), occur as "end products" of the interaction between active monocytes and endothelial cells. As suggested by researchers, NMES is a method of training that improves the endothelial function and increases exercise tolerance in patients with CHF, thus breaking the vicious cycle between improper peripheral inflammatory responses, nitric oxide metabolism anomalies and vasculo-muscular dysfunction [9].…”

Exercise Training in Group 2 Pulmonary Hypertension: Which Intensity and What Modality

“…A NMES program increases skeletal muscle mass as well as the aerobic and contractile properties of individual fibers. 17,39 In addition, endothelial function 40 is improved and systemic inflammation 41 is reduced following an NMES intervention. The physiologic improvements appear to be greatest in those patients with advanced HF severity.…”