Repeated blood flow restriction induces muscle fiber hypertrophy.
We recently developed an animal model to investigate the effects of eccentric contraction (ECC) and blood flow restriction (BFR) on muscle tissue at the cellular level. This study clarified the effects of repeated BFR, ECC, and BFR combined with ECC (BFR+ECC) on muscle fiber hypertrophy.



Male Wistar rats were assigned to 3 groups: BFR, ECC, and BFR+ECC. The contralateral leg in the BFR group served as a control (CONT). Muscle fiber cross-sectional area (CSA) of the tibialis anterior was determined after the respective treatments for 6 weeks.



CSA was greater in the BFR+ECC group than in the CONT (P < 0.01) and ECC (P < 0.05) groups. CSA was greater in the BFR group than that in the CONT group (P < 0.05).



These results suggest that repeated BFR alone as well as BFR+ECC induces muscle fiber hypertrophy at the cellular level. Muscle Nerve 55: 274-276, 2017.
Physical Fitness Research Institute Meiji Yasuda Life Foundation of Health and Welfare, Tobuki 150, Hachioji, Tokyo, 192-0001, Japan.
Mizuki
M
Sudo
University of Electro-Communications, Department of Mechanical Engineering and Intelligent Systems, Control Systems Program, Chofu, Tokyo, Japan.
Soichi
S
Ando
University of Electro-Communications, Department of Engineering Science, Bioscience and Technology Program, Chofu, Tokyo, Japan.
Yutaka
Y
Kano
D000818:Animals; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006984:Hypertrophy / Q000209:etiology* / Q000473:pathology*; D008297:Male; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000098:blood supply* / Q000473:pathology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D055070:Resistance Training / Q000379:methods*
blood flow restriction; cross-sectional area; eccentric contraction; electrical stimulation; hypertrophy; muscle