This study was designed to describe the time-course changes of catabolic proteins following muscle atrophy induced by 10 days of dexamethasone (DEX). Rats underwent DEX treatment for 1, 3, 5, 7 and 10 days. Body weight (BW) and lean mass were obtained using a dual energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan. Muscle ringer finger1 (MuRF-1), atrogin-1 and myostatin protein levels were analyzed in the tibialis anterior (TA), flexor hallucis longus (FHL) and soleus muscles. DEX treatment reduced lean mass since day-3 and reduced BW since day-5. Specific muscle weight reductions were observed after day-10 in TA (-23%) and after day-5 in FHL (-16%, -17% and -29%, for days 5, 7 and 10, respectively). In TA, myostatin protein level was 36% higher on day-5 and its values were normalized in comparison with controls on day-10. MuRF-1 protein level was increased in TA muscle from day-7 and in FHL muscle only on day-10. This study suggests that DEX-induced muscle atrophy is a dynamic process which involves important signaling factors over time. As demonstrated by DEXA scan, lean mass declines earlier than BW and this response may involve other catabolic proteins than myostatin and MuRF-1. Specifically for TA and FHL, it seems that myostatin may trigger the catabolic process, and MuRF-1 may contribute to maintain muscle atrophy. This information may support any intervention in order to attenuate the muscle atrophy during long period of treatment.

Dexamethasone-induced hypertension may be caused by baroreflex alterations or renin-angiotensin system (RAS) exacerbation. Aerobic training has been recommended for hypertension treatment, but the mechanisms responsible for reduction of arterial pressure (AP) in dexamethasone (DEX) treated rats are still inconclusive.This study evaluated whether mechanisms responsible for training-induced attenuation of hypertension involve changes in autonomic nervous system and in RAS components. Rats underwent aerobic training protocol on treadmill or were kept sedentary for 8 weeks. Additionally, animals were treated with DEX during the last 10 days of exercise. Body weight (BW), AP and baroreflex activity were analyzed. Tibialis anterior (TA), soleus (SOL) and left ventricle (LV) were collected for evaluation of RAS components gene expression and protein levels. Dexamethasone decreased BW (20%), caused TA atrophy (16%) and increased systolic AP (SAP, 16%) as well as decreased baroreflex activity. Training attenuated SAP increase and improved baroreflex activity, although it did not prevent DEX-induced BW reduction and muscle atrophy. Neither DEX nor training caused expressive changes in RAS components. In conclusion, exercise training was effective in attenuating hypertension induced by DEX and this response may be mediated by a better autonomic balance through an improvement of baroreflex activity rather than changes in RAS components.

Hypertension is one of the chronic side effects of dexamethasone (DEX) treatment; however, almost nothing is known about its acute effects. Therefore, the aim of this study was to investigate the possible mechanisms involved in blood pressure control after acute or short-term DEX treatment in adult animals. Eighty Wistar rats were divided into four groups: C1 and C5, for rats treated with saline for 1 or 5 days, respectively; D1 and D5, for rats treated with DEX for 1 or 5 days, respectively (decadron, 1 mg/kg, i.p.). Heart rate was increased in DEX treatment, but arterial pressure and cardiac muscle mass were not altered. Only few and isolated changes on gene expression and protein level of renin-angiotensin system components were observed. Five days of DEX treatment, but not one day, determined an increase in sympathetic component of spectral analysis (+75.93%, P < .05) and a significant reduction of parasympathetic component (-18.02%, P < .05), which contributed to the autonomic imbalance to the heart (LF/HF, +863.69%). The results of this present study demonstrated, for the first time, that short-term exposure to DEX treatment impairs the autonomic balance to the heart before hypertension, which was independent of renin-angiotensin system.