A potential indicator of  denervated muscle atrophy: the ratio of myostatin to follistatin in peripheral  blood.
Myostatin  is a secreted negative regulator of muscle mass, and follistatin antagonizes  the function of several members of the TGF-b family, including myostatin.  Previously, myostatin expression was found to be closely associated with  atrophy of the gastrocnemius muscle, showing a linear correlation, after sciatic  nerve injury. In this study, we investigated the possibility of myostatin being  an indicator of denervated muscle atrophy. ELISA was used to detect the  concentration of myostatin and follistatin in sera collected from individual  rats at different times after sciatic nerve crush. A strong correlation was  shown between the expression level of secreted myostatin in circulation and the  wet weight ratio of the gastrocnemius muscle. The ratio of  follistatin/myostatin could be used to monitor the progress of target muscle atrophy  and recovery. Our study provides a potential serological test to detect  denervated muscle atrophy for clinical purposes.
Jiangsu Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong, China.
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Wu
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Wang
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Yang
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Li
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Liu
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Liu
D000818:Animals; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D038681:Follistatin / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D009121:Muscle Denervation; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000294:innervation* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D009133:Muscular Atrophy / Q000097:blood* / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D055435:Myostatin / Q000097:blood*; D009409:Nerve Crush; D009929:Organ Size; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D012584:Sciatic Nerve / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D013997:Time Factors
D038681:Follistatin; D055435:Myostatin