Nitric oxide activates guanylate cyclase to form cGMP, comprising a signalling system that is believed to be a distinct mechanism for increasing glucose transport and metabolism in skeletal muscle. The effects of a selective cGMP phosphodiesterase inhibitor, zaprinast, on basal glucose utilization was investigated in incubated rat soleus muscle preparations isolated from both insulin-sensitive ...

Glucocorticoids cause insulin resistance in skeletal muscle. The aims of the present study were to investigate the effects of contraction on glucose uptake, insulin signaling, and regulation of glycogen synthesis in skeletal muscles from rats treated with the glucocorticoid analog dexamethasone (1 mg x kg(-1) x day(-1) ip for 12 days). Insulin resistance in dexamethasone-treated rats was confir...

It is well established that unilateral exercise can produce contralateral effects. However, it is unclear whether unilateral exercise that leads to muscle injury and inflammation also affects the homologous contralateral muscles. To test the hypothesis that unilateral muscle injury causes contralateral muscle changes, an experimental rabbit model with unilateral muscle overuse caused by a combi...

The relative amount and distribution of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) molecular forms were studied in slow soleus and (less extensively) in fast extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscles of the rat before and after denervation and direct stimulation. Normal EDL muscles showed higher total and specific AChE activity than normal soleus muscles and contained essentially three different molecular AChE ...

Suwa, Masataka, Toru Egashira, Hiroshi Nakano, Haruka Sasaki, and Shuzo Kumagai. Metformin increases the PGC-1 protein and oxidative enzyme activities possibly via AMPK phosphorylation in skeletal muscle in vivo. J Appl Physiol 101: 1685–1692, 2006. First published August 10, 2006; doi:10.1152/japplphysiol.00255.2006.— AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which was activated by an antihyperglyc...

Purpose: The current study aimed at evaluating the effect of 5-toed shoes on electromyographic activity of leg muscles during the stance phase of running.  Methods: The current semi-experimental study recorded the electromyographic activity of tibialis anterior, soleus, gastrocnemius lateralis, and medialis muscles of 15 healthy male students (mean age: 24.5±3.4 years, mean height:...

Calcineurin, a Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent phosphatase, is associated with muscle regeneration via NFATc1/GATA2-dependent pathways. However, it is not clear whether calcineurin preferentially affects the regeneration of slow- or fast-twitch muscles. We investigated the effect of a calcineurin inhibitor, cyclosporin A (CsA), on the morphology and fiber diameter of regenerating slow- and fast-twitc...

This study tested the hypothesis that age-related changes in the dystrophin-glycoprotein complex (DGC) may precede age-associated alterations in muscle morphology and function. Compared to those in adult (6 month) rats, extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus muscle mass was decreased in old (30 month) and very old (36 month) Fischer 344/NNiaHSD x Brown Norway/BiNia rats. The amount of dystr...

The primary objective of this study was to determine the effectiveness of isometric exercise (IE) as a countermeasure to hindlimb unloading (HU)-induced atrophy of the slow (soleus) and fast (plantaris and gastrocnemius) muscles. Rats were assigned to either weight-bearing control, 7-day HU (H7), H7 plus IE (I7), 14-day HU (H14), or H14 plus IE (I14) groups. IE consisted of ten 5-s maximal isom...