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Effects of chronic electrical stimulation on long-term denervated muscles of the rabbit hind limb

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Abstract

We investigated the extent to which activity induced by chronic electrical stimulation could restore the mass and contractile function of rabbit tibialis anterior (TA) muscles that had undergone atrophy as a result of prolonged denervation. Denervation was carried out by selectively interrupting the motor nerve branches to the ankle dorsiflexors in one hind limb. Stimulators were implanted, with electrodes on the superficial and deep surfaces of the denervated TA muscle. Ten weeks later, the mass and mid-belly cross-sectional area (CSA) of TA muscles subjected to denervation alone had fallen to approximately 40% of normal. At this stage, stimulators in the other rabbits were activated for 1 h/day to deliver 20-ms rectangular bipolar constant-current pulses of 4 mA amplitude at 20 Hz with a duty cycle of 1s ON/2s OFF, a total of 24,000 impulses/day. The animals were examined after a further 2, 6 or 10 weeks. Stimulation restored the wet weight of the denervated muscles to values not significantly different to those of normal, innervated controls. It increased CSA from 39% to 66% of normal, and there was a commensurate increase in maximum isometric tetanic force from 27% to 50% of normal. Light and electron microscopic examination revealed a marked improvement in the size, packing, and internal organization of the stimulated-denervated muscle fibres, suggestive of an ongoing process of restoration. Excitability, contractile speed, power, and fatigue resistance had not, however, been restored to normal levels after 10 weeks of stimulation. Similar results were found for muscles that had been denervated for 39 weeks and then stimulated for 12 weeks. The study demonstrates worthwhile benefits of long-term electrical stimulation in the treatment of established denervation atrophy.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by European Commission Project “RISE”, Contract Nr. QLG5-CT-2001-02191. The authors are grateful for many valuable discussions with their colleagues in this network and particularly for the clinical leadership provided by Dr Helmut Kern.

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Author notes

  1. Michael Russold

    Present address: Rehabilitation Research Centre, University of Sydney, 170 (East Street), Lidcombe, NSW, 1825, Australia

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Muscle Research Group, Department of Human Anatomy & Cell Biology, School of Biomedical Sciences, University of Liverpool, The Sherrington Building, Ashton Street, Liverpool, L69 3GE, UK

    Zoe Ashley, Stanley Salmons, Michael Russold, Hazel Sutherland & Jonathan C. Jarvis

  2. IIM Interuniversity Institute of Myology, Centro Scienze dell’Invecchiamento (Center for Research on Ageing), Università G. d’Annunzio, 66013, Chieti, Italy

    Simona Boncompagni & Feliciano Protasi

  3. Department of Biomedical Engineering & Physics, University of Vienna, AKH, 1090, Vienna, Austria

    Hermann Lanmuller & Winfried Mayr

Authors
  1. Zoe Ashley
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  2. Stanley Salmons
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  3. Simona Boncompagni
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  4. Feliciano Protasi
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  5. Michael Russold
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  6. Hermann Lanmuller
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  8. Hazel Sutherland
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  9. Jonathan C. Jarvis
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Correspondence to Stanley Salmons.

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Ashley, Z., Salmons, S., Boncompagni, S. et al. Effects of chronic electrical stimulation on long-term denervated muscles of the rabbit hind limb. J Muscle Res Cell Motil 28, 203–217 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10974-007-9119-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10974-007-9119-4

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