Acupuncture plus low-frequency electrical stimulation (Acu-LFES) attenuates denervation-induced muscle atrophy

Abstract

Muscle wasting occurs in a variety of clinical situations, including denervation. There is no effective pharmacological treatment for muscle wasting. In this study, we used a tibial nerve denervation model to test acupuncture plus low-frequency electric stimulation (Acu-LFES) as a therapeutic strategy for muscle atrophy. Acupuncture needles were connected to an SDZ-II electronic acupuncture device delivering pulses at 20 Hz and 1 mA; the treatment was 15 min daily for 2 wk. Acu-LFES prevented soleus and plantaris muscle weight loss and increased muscle cross-sectional area in denervated mice. The abundances of Pax7, MyoD, myogenin, and embryonic myosin heavy chain were significantly increased by Acu-LFES in both normal and denervated muscle. The number of central nuclei was increased in Acu-LFES-treated muscle fibers. Phosphorylation of Akt was downregulated by denervation leading to a decline in muscle mass; however, Acu-LFES prevented the denervation-induced decline largely by upregulation of the IGF-1 signaling pathway. Acu-LFES reduced the abundance of muscle catabolic proteins forkhead O transcription factor and myostatin, contributing to the attenuated muscle atrophy. Acu-LFES stimulated the expression of macrophage markers (F4/80, IL-1b, and arginase-1) and inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IFNγ, and TNFα) in normal and denervated muscle. Acu-LFES also stimulated production of the muscle-specific microRNAs miR-1 and miR-206. We conclude that Acu-LFES is effective in counteracting denervation-induced skeletal muscle atrophy and increasing muscle regeneration. Upregulation of IGF-1, downregulation of myostatin, and alteration of microRNAs contribute to the attenuation of muscle atrophy in denervated mice.

miR-26a Limits Muscle Wasting and Cardiac Fibrosis through Exosome-Mediated microRNA Transfer in Chronic Kidney Disease

“…For synthesis of cDNA, 10 ng of total RNA that was enriched in small RNAs was reverse transcribed using an NCode miRNA cDNA synthesis kit (Exiqon, Vedbaek, Denmark). The expression of microRNA was measured as described 46. Primers were purchased from Exiqon.…”

Ubiquitin C-Terminal Hydrolase L1 regulates myoblast proliferation and differentiation

“…We tested this in denervated muscles because denervation can cause muscle injury and atrophy, at same time trigger myogenic activity as a compensatory response[21]. In mice with unilateral sciatic denervation, we observed that UCHL1 protein level was significantly increased in denervated muscles as compared with the control muscles.…”

MicroRNA in Acupuncture Studies: Does Small RNA Shed Light on the Biological Mechanism of Acupuncture?

“…The LFES treatment was done on acupoint GB34 and ST36 of denervation-induced mice model. The results demonstrated that LFES stimulated expression of miR-1 and miR-206 as its expression was increased in the skeletal muscle [43].…”