Preventive effects of kilohertz frequency electrical stimulation on sepsis-induced muscle atrophy.
The present study sought to evaluate the effect of electrical stimulation (ES) by using kilohertz frequency on muscle atrophy induced by sepsis.



Seventeen male ICR mice were randomly divided into 3 groups: control, lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-injected for 4 days, LPS plus ES (LPS+ES). Sepsis was induced by 4 days of an intraperitoneal LPS injection (10 μg/g body weight/day). LPS+ES animals received the LPS injections and ES twice a day for 4 days. ELISA and western blot analysis determined the plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines and ubiquitinated proteins, while the tibialis anterior muscles were weighed and muscle fiber cross-sectional area (CSA) were measured to assess muscle atrophy, which were analyzed by Student's t-test and ANOVA.



LPS induced increased plasma levels of inflammatory cytokines, significant muscle mass loss (LPS: -29.0%, LPS+ES: -23.1%), decreased fiber cross-sectional area, and an up-regulation of atrogin-1 and ubiquitinated proteins in the tibialis anterior muscle compared with the control. ES attenuated the sepsis-induced loss of muscle mass and decreased fiber CSA, as well as attenuated the atrogin-1 and ubiquitinated protein up-regulation.



Electrical stimulation may prevent sepsis-induced muscle atrophy through ubiquitin-proteasome pathway inhibition.
Department of Rehabilitation Science, Kobe University Graduate School of Health Sciences, 7-10-2 Tomogaoka, Suma-ku, Kobe 654-0142, Japan.
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M
Tanaka
K
K
Tanaka
J
J
Tategaki
H
H
Fujino
D000818:Animals; D015153:Blotting, Western; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004599:Electric Stimulation Therapy / Q000379:methods*; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008813:Mice, Inbred ICR; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000473:pathology*; D009133:Muscular Atrophy / Q000209:etiology / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control*; D011897:Random Allocation; D018805:Sepsis / Q000150:complications*