This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Al-Majid, S. Articles by McCarthy, D. O. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Al-Majid, S. Articles by McCarthy, D. O. Social Bookmarking                   What's this?

Resistance Exercise Training Attenuates Wasting of the Extensor Digitorum Longus Muscle in Mice Bearing the Colon-26 Adenocarcinoma

School of Nursing, Virginia Commonwealth University, 1220 E. Broad Street, P.O. Box 980567, Richmond, VA 23298-0567; phone: (804) 828-3447; fax: (804) 828-7743salmaji{at}hsc.vcu.edu

Donna O. McCarthy, PhD

School of Nursing at the University of Wisconsin–Madison.

Progressive wasting of skeletal muscle is a significant side effect of malignancy. Perturbations in protein metabolism contribute to this state of wasting. Resistance exercise increases protein synthesis and mass of healthy muscles and counteracts muscle wasting associated with several catabolic conditions. It is not known whether resistance exercise training can counteract cancer-induced muscle wasting. This study examined the effect of resistance exercise training on muscle mass and protein content in 9 mice bearing the colon-26 adenocarcinoma. The dorsiflexor (extensor digitorum longus [EDL] and tibialis anterior) and plantar flexor (soleus, plantaris, and gastrocnemius) muscles of 1 leg of the tumor-bearing and the control mice were stimulated to contract eccentrically and concentrically, respectively, using an electrical stimulation protocol consisting of 10 sets of 6 repetitions per session. The muscles were stimulated on alternate days for a total of 8 sessions. The weight and protein content of the stimulated EDL muscle in the tumorbearing mice were significantly higher (62% and 25%, respectively) than those of the nonstimulated EDL. Training did not have significant effects on the weight or protein content of the other muscles of the tumorbearing mice, nor did it have significant effects on the muscles of the controls. These findings demonstrated that resistance training attenuated cancer-induced muscle wasting and protein depletion in the EDL muscle. The lack of an effect of the same training protocol on the ED Lmuscle in the control mice suggests that the amount and intensity of exercise training that is adequate to attenuate muscle wasting may not be adequate to induce hypertrophy of healthy muscles.

Key Words: Skeletal muscle wasting • cachexia • resistance exercise • electrical stimulation • colon-26 adenocarcinoma • animal models • mice

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Al-Majid and H. Waters The Biological Mechanisms of Cancer-Related Skeletal Muscle Wasting: The Role of Progressive Resistance Exercise Biol Res Nurs, July 1, 2008; 10(1): 7 - 20. [Abstract] [PDF]

				W. J. Durham, Y.-P. Li, E. Gerken, M. Farid, S. Arbogast, R. R. Wolfe, and M. B. Reid Fatiguing exercise reduces DNA binding activity of NF-{kappa}B in skeletal muscle nuclei J Appl Physiol, November 1, 2004; 97(5): 1740 - 1745. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. M. Diffee, K. Kalfas, S. Al-Majid, and D. O. McCarthy Altered expression of skeletal muscle myosin isoforms in cancer cachexia Am J Physiol Cell Physiol, November 1, 2002; 283(5): C1376 - C1382. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]