Maintaining muscle size and fiber composition requires contractile activity. Increased activity stimulates expression of the transcriptional coactivator PGC-1alpha (peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma coactivator 1alpha), which promotes fiber-type switching from glycolytic toward more oxidative fibers. In response to disuse or denervation, but also in fasting and many systemic dise...

Salem M, Kenney PB, Rexroad CE 3rd, Yao J. Microarray gene expression analysis in atrophying rainbow trout muscle: a unique nonmammalian muscle degradation model. Physiol Genomics 28: 33– 45, 2006. First published August 1, 2006; doi:10.1152/physiolgenomics.00114.2006.—Muscle atrophy is a physiological response to diverse physiological and pathological conditions that trigger muscle deteriorati...

UNLABELLED Muscle denervation atrophy is a result of lower motor neuron injury, thus an early restitution of muscle stimulation is essential in prevention of atrophic changes. THE AIM OF THE STUDY To evaluate the new application of naturally occurring epineural sheath conduit in repair of the peripheral nerve gap to prevent development of muscle denervation atrophy. MATERIAL AND METHODS We ...

RATIONALE The molecular mechanisms underlying the muscle atrophy of intensive care unit-acquired weakness (ICUAW) are poorly understood. We hypothesised that increased circulating and muscle growth and differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15) causes atrophy in ICUAW by changing expression of key microRNAs. OBJECTIVES To investigate GDF-15 and microRNA expression in patients with ICUAW and to elucid...

BACKGROUND Skeletal muscle wasting in acute lung injury (ALI) patients increases the morbidity and mortality associated with this critical illness. The contribution of laryngeal muscle wasting to these outcomes is unknown, though voice impairments and aspiration are common in intensive care unit (ICU) survivors. We evaluated the intrinsic laryngeal abductor (PCA, posterior cricoarytenoid), addu...

BACKGROUND Skeletal muscle atrophy is a serious concern for the rehabilitation of patients afflicted by prolonged limb restriction. This debilitating condition is associated with a marked activation of NFκB activity. The ubiquitin-proteasome pathway degrades the NFκB inhibitor IκBα, enabling NFκB to translocate to the nucleus and bind to the target genes that promote muscle atrophy. Although se...

The arterial blockage in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) restricts oxygen delivery to skeletal muscles distal to the blockage. In advanced-stage PAD patients, this creates a chronic ischemic condition in the affected muscles. However, in the majority of PAD patients, the muscles distal to the blockage only become ischemic during physical activity when the oxygen demands of these...

The anterior tibial (AT) muscle of 6 female Wistar rats aged 35-44 months, was examined by an electron microscopy. Previously, significant age-dependent functional and morphological deficits were found in these rats including [1] a strongly decreased muscle mass and force, [2] muscle stiffness, [3] spontaneous, tonic electromyographic activity, and [4] light-microscopic features of chronic dene...

Mechanisms of muscle atrophy are complex and their understanding might help finding therapeutic solutions for pathologies such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). We meta-analyzed transcriptomic experiments of muscles of ALS patients and mouse models, uncovering a p53 deregulation as common denominator. We then characterized the induction of several p53 family members (p53, p63, p73) and a ...

BACKGROUND Dermatomyositis (DM) is inflammatory myopathy or myositis characterized by muscle weakness and skin manifestations. In the differential diagnosis of DM the evaluation of the muscle biopsy is of importance among other parameters. Perifascicular atrophy in the muscle biopsy is considered a hallmark of DM. However, perifascicular atrophy is not observed in all patients with DM and, conv...