Modulation of trophism and fiber type gene expression in denervated muscle activated by different patterns of electrical stimulation. Role of muscle fiber regeneration revisited in 2017

Abstract

After sixty and more years of basic research on electrostimulation-induced muscle plasticity, in the last fifteen years a few studies have employed long impulse biphasic electrical stimulation as a treatment for human long-term denervated muscle. Tissue trophism and muscle power are improved to a level sufficient to restore some functions by home based Functional Electrical Stimulation (h-bFES). These treatments usually start late after denervation due to clinical constraints. The changes induced by 1) denervation, 2) spontaneous or induced aneural myogenesis, and 3) long-term electrical stimulation starting either early or late after denervation, in both animal models and in clinic, are here reported once again to attract attention of patients, physiatrists and physiotherapists on achievable results and on limitations of h-bFES for denervated degenerating muscles (DDM). The trophic and functional recovery from severe atrophy/degeneration of long-term denervated muscle by h-bFES of DDM is a fact standing on a sound foundation. Furthermore, a new muscle quantitative color computed tomography (MQC-CT) adds, to functional evidence and to muscle biopsy analyses, the results based on tridimensional analysis of a full skeletal muscle. The differentiation of muscle fibers regenerating in the absence of the nerve is remarkable in animal experiments. If myogenesis in patients could be modulated during the months needed to recover denervated muscle tetanic contractility, it should be possible to substantially abbreviate the time needed to achieve functional recovery of long term denervated human muscle by h-bFES of DDM using the commercial muscle stimulator and the large electrodes now available.

Exercise against tumor- and chemotherapy-induced muscle wasting

“…Exercise biological effects are usually reported in specialized journals, such as Sports Medicine [65] or The Physician and Sportsmedicine [66]. We suggest, instead, that a greater number of transdisciplinary journals, such as Biology, engineering and Medicine [67,68] and European Journal of Translation Myology [69][70][71] dedicate original data articles and special issues to the effects of exercise with medical implications. This policy would give greater visibility to exercise training protocols for medical applications and would favor the incorporation of exercise into multimodal therapies against complex, multiorgan syndromes such as cachexia [72,73].…”