title: Impact of high intensity exercise on muscle morphology in EAE rats.
abstract: The impact of high-intensity exercise on disease progression and muscle contractile properties in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE) remains unclear. Control (CON) and EAE rats were divided into sedentary and exercise groups. Before onset (experiment 1, n=40) and after hindquarter paralysis (experiment 2, n=40), isokinetic foot extensor strength, cross sectional area (CSA) of tibialis anterior (TA), extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus (SOL) and brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) levels were assessed. EAE reduced muscle fiber CSA of TA, EDL and SOL. In general, exercise was not able to affect CSA, whereas it delayed hindquarter paralysis peak. CON muscle work peaked and declined, while it remained stable in EAE. BDNF-responses were not affected by EAE or exercise. In conclusion, EAE affected CSA-properties of TA, EDL and SOL, which could, partly, explain the absence of peak work during isokinetic muscle performance in EAE-animals. However, exercise was not able to prevent muscle fiber atrophy.
authors.affiliation: REVAL Rehabilitation Research Center, BIOMED Biomedical Research Institute, Faculty of Medicine and Life Sciences, Hasselt University, Diepenbeek, Belgium. inez.wens@uhasselt.be.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Wens
authors.forename: U
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Dalgas
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Verboven
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Kosten
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stevens
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Hens
authors.forename: B O
authors.initials: BO
authors.lastname: Eijnde
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor / Q000097:blood; D018450:Disease Progression; D004435:Eating; D004681:Encephalomyelitis, Autoimmune, Experimental / Q000097:blood / Q000473:pathology* / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D018485:Muscle Fibers, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology* / Q000502:physiology; D053580:Muscle Strength; D010805:Physical Conditioning, Animal / Q000502:physiology*; D011897:Random Allocation; D011917:Rats, Inbred Lew
chemical_list: D019208:Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor