Voluntary wheel running with and without follistatin overexpression improves NMJ transmission but not motor unit loss in late life of C57BL/6J mice

Ageing and exercise‐induced motor unit remodelling

“…Briefly, NMJ transmission refers to the release of acetylcholine (ACh) from the motoneuron and binding to the synaptic region of the muscle fibre to initiate a muscle fibre action potential and contraction. Aged rats have demonstrated a decline in NMJ transmission stability and reliability which correlated with declines in functional measures such as grip strength (Padilla et al., 2021), and voluntary running exercise improved NMJ transmission stability in older mice (Chugh et al., 2021). However, these beneficial effects of exercise on NMJ transmission are less clear in older age (Deschenes et al., 2011).…”

Effects of physical exercise on neuromuscular junction degeneration during ageing: A systematic review

“…After conducting a full-text eligibility assessment, 22 manuscripts were excluded, including 15 review papers, 6 conference reports and 1 paper was too dated to retrieve the full text. Ultimately, 20 studies were selected for systematic analysis [ [22] , [23] , [24] , [25] , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , [33] , [34] , [35] , [36] , [37] , [38] , [39] , [40] , [41] , [42] , [43] ]. The flowchart detailing the selection process is shown in Fig.…”

“…The 20 selected studies were conducted between 1984 and 2023. Among these, 11 studies utilized mice [ 22 , 25 , [28] , [29] , [30] , [31] , [32] , 34 , 37 , 41 , 42 ], 6 utilized rats [ 23 , 24 , 33 , 36 , 38 , 39 ] and 3 involved human subjects [ 35 , 40 , 43 ]. The characteristics of the included studies are shown in Table 1 .…”

“…Furthermore, the exercise protocols varied among the included studies. 5 studies used voluntary running wheel exercise [ 22 , 32 , 34 , 37 , 42 ], 6 studies used endurance training with employed treadmill running [ 23 , 29 , 31 , 33 , 36 , 39 ] and 6 resistance training with 3 treadmill running [ 30 , 38 , 41 ], 2 wheel running exercise [ 25 , 28 ] and 1 incorporated ladder climbing for training [ 24 ]. The 3 included clinical studies had participants undergoing specifically designed resistance training regimens [ 35 , 40 , 43 ].…”

“…Recent advancements in research have led to the exploration of various strategies, including physical therapy [ [18] , [19] , [20] ], medication [ 21 ], and exercise [ 22 , 23 ], aimed at decelerating or even reversing NMJ degeneration. Of these, exercise training has gathered significant interest, particularly regarding its application in the elderly [ [23] , [24] , [25] ].…”