Kenneth B. Geronilla

Resistance training increases heat shock protein levels in skeletal muscle of young and old rats

Heat shock proteins (HSP) HSP72, HSC70 and HSP25 protein levels and mRNA levels of HSP72 genes (Hsp72-1, Hsp72-2, Hsp72-3) and HSC70 were examined in tibialis anterior muscles from young and old rats following 4.5 weeks of heavy resistance exercise. Young (3 months) (n=10) and old (30 months) (n=9) rats were subjected to 14 sessions of electrically evoked resistance training using stretch-shortening contractions of the left limb that activated the dorsiflexor muscle group, including the tibialis anterior muscle, while the right side served as the intra-animal control. Muscle wet weight of the left tibialis anterior increased by 15.6% in young animals compared to the untrained right side, while the aged rats demonstrated no significant hypertrophy based on muscle wet weight. There were no differences in mRNA expression between the control and experimental muscles in either the old or the young animals for any of the four genes examined. On the other hand, HSP72 levels as determined by Western blots were significantly (p<0.01) higher (968.8 and 409.1%) in the trained as compared to the contralateral control muscle in young and old animals, respectively. HSP25 expression was increased significantly (p<0.01) by training in muscles of young rats (943.1%) and old rats (420.3%). Moreover, there was no training by age interaction for HSP72, while a significant age and training by age effects were found in muscles for HSP25. There was no change in HSC70 protein expression in response to the training intervention in either age group. SOD-1 enzyme level increased by 66.6% in the trained muscles of the young rats, while this enzyme was 33% lower in trained muscles compared to the untrained control side in old rats. Moreover, a significant (p<0.05) training by age interaction was found for SOD-1 enzyme levels. This study suggests that fast contracting muscles in young and old animals are capable of increasing HSP expression in response to high intensity contractile stress. Furthermore, the data are consistent with the hypothesis that higher levels of oxidative stress in muscles of old animals limit HSP levels and/or function in response to high intensity contractile stress.

Proapoptotic factor Bax is increased in satellite cells in the tibialis anterior muscles of old rats.

Aging impairs the ability of muscle to adapt to exercise or injury. The goal of this study was to determine whether age‐related changes in muscle adaptability could be the result of satellite cell apoptosis. Ten days after exposure to an injury protocol, estimates of edema in the exposed tibialis anterior muscles were higher in old (30 months) than young (3 months) rats, and isometric force levels were lower in old rats. Both young and old rats displayed an increase in MyoD labeling in the exposed muscle, indicating that injury induced satellite‐cell activation. However, there were more MyoD‐labeled cells that coexpressed the proapoptotic factor, Bax, in old than in young rats, suggesting that decrements in muscle recovery may be associated with an increase in satellite‐cell apoptosis. Based on these findings we conclude that reducing satellite‐cell apoptosis in aged animals may improve muscle recovery after injury. Muscle Nerve, 2006

Analysis of real-time changes of rat dorsi-flexor forces during injurious stretch-shortening cycles in vivo

The purpose of this study was to quantify, in real-time, variations in muscle performance during 150 stretch-shortening contractions. The analysis of the dynamic muscle response was used to predict the onset of muscle injury. The isometric performance recovery and tissue response after exposure levels of 30 and 70 repetitions, respectively, indicated that injury occurred after 70 repetitions. This result supported the predictive utility of the analytical analysis.