Acupuncture plus Low-Frequency Electrical Stimulation (Acu-LFES) attenuates denervation-induced muscle atrophy.

Abstract
Muscle wasting occurs in a variety of clinical situations including denervation. There is no effective pharmacologic treatment for muscle wasting. In this study, we used a tibial nerve denervation model to test acupuncture plus low frequency electric stimulation (Acu-LFES) as a therapeutic strategy for muscle atrophy. Acupuncture needles were connected to an SDZ-II electronic acupuncture device delivering pulses at 20Hz and 1mA, the treatment was 15 minutes daily for 2 weeks. Acu-LFES prevented soleus and plantaris muscle weight loss and increased muscle cross-sectional area in denervated mice. The abundances of Pax7, MyoD, myogenin and embryonic myosin heavy chain were significantly increased by Acu-LFES in both normal and denervated muscle. The number of central nuclei was increased in Acu-LFES treated muscle fibers. Phosphorylation of Akt was downregulated by denervation leading to a decline in muscle mass; however, Acu-LFES prevented the denervation-induced decline by largely upregulation of the IGF-1 signaling pathway. Acu-LFES reduced the abundance of muscle catabolic proteins forkhead O transcription factor and myostatin, contributing to the attenuated muscle atrophy. Acu-LFES stimulated the expression of macrophage markers (F4/80, IL-1b and arginase-1) and inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IFNγ and TNFα) in normal and denervated muscle. Acu-LFES also stimulated production of the muscle specific microRNAs miR-1 and miR-206. We conclude that Acu-LFES is effective in counteracting denervation-induced skeletal muscle atrophy and increasing muscle regeneration. Upregulation of IGF-1, downregulation of myostatin and alteration of microRNAs contribute to the attenuation of muscle atrophy in denervated mice.
Copyright © 2015, Journal of Applied Physiology.
KEYWORDS:
Akt,; FoxO1 and 3; IGF-1; cytokines; myostatin
PMID: 26679610