The Effects of Non-Weight Bearing on Skeletal Muscle in Older Rats: an Interrupted Bout versus an Uninterrupted Bout

Inactivity, age, and exercise: single-muscle fiber power generation

We examined the effects of mild therapeutic exercise during a period of inactivity on size and contractile functions of myosin heavy chain (MHC) type I (n = 204) and type II (n = 419) single fibers from the medial gastrocnemius in three age groups. Young adult (5-12 mo), middle-aged (24-31 mo), and old (32-37 mo) F344BNF1 rats were assigned to one of three groups: weight-bearing control, non-weight bearing (NWB), and NWB plus exercise (NWBX). Fourteen days of hindlimb suspension were applied in NWB rats. The NWBX rats exercised on the treadmill for 15 min, four times a day, during the period of NWB. The NWBX did not improve peak power, but increased normalized power of MHC type I fibers in young adult rats. In MHC type II fibers, NWBX did not change peak power, isometric maximal force, V(max), and fiber size from young adult and middle-aged rats. NWBX did not improve peak power and isometric maximal force and showed a dramatic decline in V(max) and normalized power in the old rats. Collectively, mild treadmill exercise during a period of inactivity does not improve peak power of MHC type I or type II fiber from the gastrocnemius in young, middle-aged, and old rats. However, NWBX is beneficial in enhancing normalized power of MHC type I fibers in young adult rats, most likely due to the stimulus intensity and the ability of the individual fibers to adapt to the stimulus. In contrast, several factors, such as impaired adaptation potential, inappropriate exercise intensity, or increased susceptibility to muscle damage, may contribute to the lack of improvement in the older rats.

Differential effects of mild therapeutic exercise during a period of inactivity on power generation in soleus type I single fibers with age

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of mild therapeutic exercise (treadmill) in preventing the inactivity-induced alterations in contractile properties (e.g., power, force, and velocity) of type I soleus single fibers in three different age groups. Young adult (5- to 12-mo-old), middle-aged (24- to 31-mo-old), and old (32- to 40-mo-old) F344BNF1 rats were randomly assigned to three experimental groups: weight-bearing control (CON), non-weight bearing (NWB), and NWB with exercise (NWBX). NWB rats were hindlimb suspended for 2 wk, representing inactivity. The NWBX rats were hindlimb suspended for 2 wk and received therapeutic exercise on a treadmill four times a day for 15 min each. Peak power and isometric maximal force were reduced following hindlimb suspension (HS) in all three age groups. HS decreased fiber diameter in young adult and old rats (-21 and -12%, respectively). Specific tension (isometric maximal force/cross-sectional area) was significantly reduced in both the middle-aged (-36%) and old (-23%) rats. The effects of the mild therapeutic exercise program on fiber diameter and contractile properties were age specific. Mild treadmill therapeutic exercise attenuated the HS-induced reduction in fiber diameter (+17%, 93% level of CON group) and peak power (μN·fiber length·s(-1)) (+46%, 63% level of CON group) in young adult rats. In the middle-aged animals, this exercise protocol improved peak power (+60%, 100% level of CON group) and normalized power (kN·m(-2)·fiber length·s(-1)) (+45%, 108% level of CON group). Interestingly, treadmill exercise resulted in a further reduction in shortening velocity (-42%, 67% level of CON group) and specific tension (-29%, 55% level of CON group) in the old animals. These results suggest that mild treadmill exercise is beneficial in attenuating and preventing inactivity-induced decline in peak power of type I soleus single fibers in young adult and middle-aged animals, respectively. However, this exercise program does not prevent the HS-induced decline in muscle function in the old animals.

Prehabilitation and rehabilitation for attenuating hindlimb unweighting effects on skeletal muscle and gait in adult and old rats

OBJECTIVE

To compare the effectiveness of no exercise with prehabilitation (exercise before hindlimb unweighting [HLU]) versus rehabilitation (exercise given after HLU) on gait function and skeletal muscle mass and force.

DESIGN

Randomized controlled trial.

SETTING

Animal laboratory.

ANIMALS

Male-specific, pathogen-free Fisher344/Brown Norway rats (N=149). Groups consisted of adult and old controls, HLU, prehabilitation, rehabilitation, natural cage recovery (reloading), and exercise without HLU.

INTERVENTIONS

Ten days of general conditioning exercise were given to 6-month-old adult and 30-month-old old rats before or after a week of HLU.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Gait stride length and width; soleus, plantaris, extensor digitorum longus, and peroneus longus mass and peak contractile force; whole gastrocnemius mass; and total protein concentration for the soleus and gastrocnemius.

RESULTS

Muscle mass (approximately 30%) and force (24%-36%) declined with age in all muscles studied. In adult rats declines in muscle mass occurred with HLU in the soleus, plantaris, and gastrocnemius. Prehabilitation did not prevent the loss of muscle mass in adult rats. Rehabilitation and natural recovery effectively restored soleus and gastrocnemius muscle mass in adult rats but not soleus peak force. Old rats had a significant 23% HLU effect only on gastrocnemius mass (control, 1670+/-129 mg; HLU, 1274+/-184 mg). Prehabilitation did not prevent the decline in gastrocnemius mass. Rehabilitation in old rats restored gastrocnemius mass to within 13% of control levels. Prehabilitation was effective for preventing and rehabilitation was effective for restoring soleus contractile force in old rats (control, 114+/-9 mg; HLU, 67+/-22 mg; prehabilitation, 106+/-31 mg; rehabilitation, 120+/-26 mg) compared with recovery without exercise (86+/-29 g). A significant reduction in stride length was observed with aging (136+/-18 mm vs 98+/-10 mm), which decreased further with HLU (78+/-14 mm). Prehabilitation attenuated HLU-related reductions in stride length, and rehabilitation was effective for stride length restoration in old rats.

CONCLUSIONS

Exercise, particularly rehabilitation, was more effective for old than young rats. Prehabilitation and rehabilitation diminished some of the detrimental effects of HLU on skeletal muscle mass and force and gait function in old rats.