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E-Mail: marcovaz@esef.ufrgs.br Pedido'051028-546 BRI9907443 Usuario: Phys Ther 1986 66(6) pags. 946-53 / Greathouse DG, Nitz AJ: Matulionis DH; Curtier DP / Effects of short-term electrical stimulation on the ultrastructure of rat skeletal muscles. ((iah) MEDLINE_1966-1992 pmia 3714812] Fonte de referéncia:(iah) MEDLINE_1966-1992 pmid: 3714812, Prof Dr. Marco Aurelio Vaz Rua Mariz e Barros 392 Ap 501 '90690-390 - Porto Alegre - RS BRASIL E-Mail marcovaz@esef.ufrgs.br HH NNETLTINE AT | | antl Phys Ther 1986 66(6) pags. 946-53 / Greathouse DG, Nitz AJ Matulionis DH, Currier DP / Effects of short-term electrical stimulation on the ultrastructure of rat skeletal muscles. {(iah) MEDLINE_1966-1992 pmia: 3714812] BRI9907443 pull) Pedido 051028-546 Local: BR66.1 Opgées: BR66.1 /BR512.1/ BR1.1 Atendido / Paginas: Rejeltado / Motivo: 65/80 Effects of Short-term Electrical Stimulation on the Ultrastructure of Rat Skeletal Muscles DAVID G. GREATHOUSE, ARTHUR J. NITZ, DANIEL H. MATULIONIS, and DEAN P. CURRIER ‘The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of short-term, 2,500-Hz ccarrier-wave frequency electrical stimulation on the ultrastructure of fast-twitch rat skeletal muscles. Thirteen Spraque-Dawley male rats were divided into three ‘groups: daily treatment (Group 1), every-other-day treatment (Group 2), and ‘control (Group 3). The medial quadriceps femoris and hamstring (semitendinosus ‘and semimembranosus) muscles of the right thigh were treated with short-term electrical stimulation. After treatment, the animals were sacrificed, and their ‘treated and sham quadriceps femoris and hamstring muscles were removed, fixed by Immersion, and processed for electron microscopy. Morphometric meas- ‘urements were made on electron micrographs using a Videoplan computer ‘system, and the results were analyzed statistically. The results revealed that ‘mitochondria, triads, and glycogen content of the fast-twitch muscles changed to resemble those of slow-twitch muscles. In view of these results, clinicians ‘should consider the possibility that similar changes ight occur in humat ‘subjects under clinical condition Key Words: Electric stimulation, Muscles, Physical therapy. Electrical stimulation is used as a treatment modality in physical therapy. Increased use of such treatment has been prompted in light of the develop- ‘ment of a new form of stimulator, that is, the Russian “new generation” type of clectrial generator." This type of treat- ‘ment modality has been claimed to re- Tieve pain in injured areas, increase local blood flow, strengthen muscles, cause ‘muscle hypertrophy, and facilitate mus- cle contraction," As impressive as these observations are, no information is Major Greathouse is Director, US Army-Baslor LUntvestty Program in Physical Therapy. US Army ‘Acar of Heath Sciences, For Sim Houston {TX Tazds (USA). Atthe ime otis stady be was ‘Uloctoral candidate i the Deparment of Anat ‘omy, Unisersy oF ‘Kentucky. Lexington, KY ish ‘De Nit ig Asan Profesor, Department of Physical Therapy University of Kentucky. ‘br, Mituionis Associate Pofeso2, Depart ment of Anatomy. Unwersty of Kent De. Cure is Profesor and Chairman, Depa ‘ment of Phys Therapy, University of Kentcky “Fis study was sport bythe Deparment of Anatomy and in pat by the Tobacco an Heath ‘esearch Insutue (Gram #44007), Univesity of Kentucky. The opinion or assertions contained herein are the private sews ofthe authors and are aot 1 Be onsrud atofal a reflectng the views oe Deparment ofthe Army the Department Deters Phi ance was submited December 26, 1984 vs ith he hrs for reisionT8 weeks: and was ‘ceed November 11985, 946 available regarding the actual structural changes that might occur with short term (ie, less than four weeks) electrical stimulation, Evidence in the literature exists, however, that indicates that elec- trical stimulation, using different wave- forms and frequencies produced by other generators, alters skeletal muscles structurally. Reddanna et al showed that short-term electrical stimulation of frog skeletal muscle resulted in a decrease of glycogen and a reduction in the total ‘muscle protein content.‘ Ogilvie and Rhein, analyzing the combined effects of exercise and short-term electrical stimulation (prodding) on rat skeletal muscle, noted a disruption of the A band, I band, and Z disk.° Eriksson et al assessed the effects of short-term, low frequency electrical stimulation on the human quadriceps femoris muscles and found an acute depletion of phosphagen and glycogen stores, but no changes in muscle enzyme activities, fiber type characteristics, and volume fraction and ‘number of mitochondria The muscle alterations noted after short-term stimulation are not in com- plete accord with those observed after long-term stimulation (je, more than four weeks’ duration). Several investi- gators stimulated fast-twitch muscle fi- bers for extended periods and observed fan increase in width of the Z disk but no disruption."""" An increase in the volume fraction and number of mito- chondria after long-term clectrical stim ulation was also observed.""* The T- tubule systems of fast-twitch muscle fiber type were reduced in extent to that of slow-twitch muscle in 2 10 14 days” The T-tubule system was not investigated in the short-term electrical stimulation studies. Sree et al demon strated that the transformation of fat twitch muscle to slow-twitch muscle by long-term electrical stimulation was produced not only by continuous ele trical stimulation by trains of impulses ata low frequency but also by electrical stimulation by trains of impulses at a higher frequency." Their studies ind cate that muscle fiber transformation depends more on the total contractile activity of muscle than on the pattem of electrical stimulation."® The literature regarding electrical stimulation therapy is incomplete and often conflicting, which clearly indicates the need for further research in this area. In view of this, our study was designed to evaluate the short-term effects ofthe Russian type of electrical stimulation on the ultrastructure of normal rat skeletal muscle. Particular attention was paid to subcellular structures of muscle cell, that is, mitochondria, glycogen, and triads, which if altered could be related PHYSICAL THERAPY The imo 1 experi perime contro daly an int pentot anesth anima treatm ainles when | humar tized f utes d Befo thighs: were animal positio cured | the ani with a face di were pl anterio imal te the thi Electro to prod right th jected t trical i rest per was 2.5 ducted was 6 1 amount visible | femoris Aguas Waching ce 043s, PHYSIC fo. a change in characteristics of fast- twitch to slow-twitch muscle fiber types. MATERIALS AND METHODS Thirteen healthy male Spraque-Daw- ley rats weighing between 225 and 249 g were used in this study. The rats ‘were three months old at the onset of the study. The animals were kept in Bioctean cages, three in each cage. The bottoms of the cages consisted of an open wire mesh. The animals were ex- posed to alternating periods of artificial light and darkness with the Tight cycle starting at 7 AM and terminating at 7 PM. ‘The 13 rats were divided randomly into three groups: Group 1 (rats 1-5 experimental). Group 2 (rats 6-10, ex- perimental), and Group 3 (rats 11-13, control). The animals were anesthetized daily before their morning treatment by an intraperitoneal injection of sodium pentobarbitol (20 mg/kg). The use of anesthesia was necessary to pacify the animals during the electrical stimulation treatments and to make the treatments painless, although anesthesia is not used when this type of modality is used on ‘human subjects. The rats were anesthe- tized for a total period of about 30 min- utes during each treatment session. Before the first treatment, the right thighs and legs ofthe treatment animals were shaved with electric shears. The animals then were placed in a supine position on the laboratory table and se- cured to the tabletop with tape. After the animals’ right thighs were prepared with a conductive medium,* metal sur- face disk electrodes 5 mm in diameter were placed on the anterior-medial and anterior-lateral right thighs 15 mm prox- imal to the knee joints and secured 10 the thighs with Velero fasteners.” The Electrostim 180-2 stimulator? was used to produce the electrical current. The ‘ight thighs of the animals were sub- Jeted 10 15-second trains of 50-Hz elec- ‘tical impulses followed by S0-second rest periods. The carrier-wave frequency was 2,500 Hz. This sequence was con- ducted 10 times during each treatment session, The intensity of the stimulus was 6 mA, which was three times the amount of current needed to elicit a visible contraction of the quadriceps femoris and hamstring muscles. This “aquasnic 100, Parke Laboratories ne, 307 Washington St Orange, NI 17030. SNM. Ine, 38 N Hammes Ave Joliet, cons! PHYSICAL THERAPY stimulus produced a tetanic contraction. After the electrical stimulation, the rats ‘were placed temporarily in a cage for ‘observation until they revived from the anesthesia No adverse effects of the daily anesthesia on the animals were noted. Group | rats were treated five times a ‘week (Monday—Friday) for three weeks for a total of 15 treatments. Group 2 animals were treated every other day for a total of 12 treatments. The control ‘group received no treatment. The left thighs of the animals in both treatment ‘groups served as the sham thighs. The ‘medial quadriceps femoris and medi hamstrings (semitendinosus and semi ‘membranosus) were the muscles chosen to assess the alterations in muscle fiber ultrastructure asa result of the electrical stimulation, Although every effort was made 10 use clinical methods of electrical stimu- lation, we acknowledge that the proce- dures we used in the animal model could not totally imitate those used clin- ically in human models. Pacification (using anesthesia) and restraint of ani- ‘mals was necessary so that electrical stimulation could be applied. In addi- tion, the relative size of the electrodes ‘that we used in the animal model was larger than those used to stimulate hu- ‘man muscles. Thus, more muscle mass ‘was stimulated in the animal model than in human models. Furthermore, the intensity of electrical current that we used in our study was different in pro- portion to muscle mass than that used clinically. Finally, the muscle response to electrical stimulation may differ be- cause of diverse species differences. It should also be recognized, however, that human studies often fail to provide in- formation because such investigations cannot be manipulated sufficiently to conform to the experimental design. For this reason, animal research is appropri- ate for experimental studies of the ef fects of electrical stimulation, After the final treatment, girth meas- urements of the treated and sham thighs and legs of those animals that received electrical stimulation were obtained, ‘The animals were placed in a supine position and secured tothe tabletop with tape. The knees were flexed to approxi- mately 90 degrees, and the legs were fixed in this position with tape. The girths of the thigh and leg were measured ‘5 mm proximal and distal to the knee joint with a nonelastic tape measure. RESEARCH Before the autopsy of the muscles, the animals were injected intraperitoneally with a lethal dose (70 mg/kg) of sodium pentobarbitol. Incsions were made in the thigh, andthe relaxed medial quad- riceps femoris and hamstring (semiten- dinosus and semimembranosus) mus- cles were removed.“ Longitudinal strips of muscle were dissected from the belly of each muscle and immersed within ‘wo minutes in a. cacodylate buffered 3.5% glutaraldehyde fixative solution at 4°C. The muscle strips were then cut into 1-x 1-x 1 S-mm blocks. The tissue remained immersed in the fixative so- lution fora total of 1.5 hours. ‘fier inital fixation, the blocks of muscle tissue were washed in a cacodyl- ate bulfer containing 2% sucrose. The tissues were postfixed by immersion for one hour in a cacodylate buffered solu- tion of 2% osmium tetroxide. The mus- cle tissue was dehydrated in a graded series of ethanol, passed through pro- pylene oxide, and embedded in Epon 812.” Thre blocks from each biopsy of muscle tissue were selected randomly and sectioned longitudinally at 600 10 800 nm in thickness on an LKB 8880 Ultramicrotome The sections. were stained with lead citrate. The tissue was examined and photographed with a Phillips EM 400 electron microscope-§ Four micrographs were made of the centrally located muscle fiber from each biock at an original magnification of 10,000 x, and then enlarged photo- graphically to 27,000 x. The muscle fiber chosen for study and photography was located most centrally on the sup- porting grid. This method, described by Engel and Stonnington," ensured random sampling of the muscle fibers. The centrally located fibers were repre- sentative of other fibers in the same muscle. Twelve micrographs of muscle tissue were obtained from each animal, Yielding a total of 36 micrographs from controls and 120 micrographs from treated rats foreach muscle. Various subcellular components per unit volume of selected muscle cell ey- toplasm were measured and quantified (morphometrcally and algorithmically) using the Zeiss Videoplan Image Analy- sis System.|| We used area-perimeter {LKB Produker AB, $16125 Bromma, Sock hole, Sweden {NV Philips Gloilumpentvishem, Eindoven, ‘The Netherlands Tart Zs In, Thorood, NY 10598 TABLE 1 Girth Measurements of Treated Animals ‘Above Knee (thigh) Below Knee (eg) Group Rat (erm (om) Rightt Left DiMA L) Right” Left Dim — L) 1 1 8 8S 4 mR 65 7 1 a Tol ee 7 6 6t a 1 3 8486 8 er 8. 1 1 4 88 80 8 6 61 2 1 5 9 80 10 7 68 4 2 0 7 7 68 " 2 7 9 a7 8 7% 7 3 2 8 88S. 4 7 © 64 6 ely OF ae oie 08 6 2 88 4 2 0 98 a9 9 B70 3 * Denotes treated thigh org, TaBLe 2 “Test Results for Girth surements of Treated Animals (Group _Dieronce” tp 1 Thigh 755-002 1 NS. 2 or 2 2? Ditference * Significant. analysis to calculate volume fraction (Vy) and surface volume (Sv) of the mitochondria and the triads using the formulae: Wm A/AT w Sv=4/xxU/AT — (2) where A is the sum of the structure areas, AT is the sum of the reference area (cell cytoplasm), and U is the sum of the structure section perimeters in AT" Volume fraction of glycogen par- ticles was determined using the point counting procedure in which more than 528 independent test points (“hits”) on a multipurpose grid that intercepted gly- cogen particles were identified. The vol- lume fractions of these struftures were estimated using the equation: Voi = Pri a where Vvi is the volume fraction (%) ‘occupied by a structure and Ppi is equal to the fraction of test points intercepted by the structure.” The Wvi reported rep- resents the percentage volume of the lycogen particles per unit volume of ‘muscle tissue in the sampled region."” ‘The width of the Z disk ofthe sarcomere located in each corner of a micrograph ‘was measured using the Zeiss Videoplan 948 Image Analysis System. Four Z disks were measured for each micrograph, 10- taling 48 disks for each muscle for each animal. Data Analysis The thigh- and leg-girth measure ‘ments of the treated animals (Groups 1 and 2) were analyzed in the following ‘manner. The difference between treat- ‘ment and sham thigh girth in individual animals was determined. Group means for thigh and leg girth differences were determined and analyzed statistically using the paired f test. The volume frac- tion; surface area per volume; and num- ber of mitochondria, triads, and glyco- gen particles were analyzed statistically using a one-way analysis of variance 10 compare differences between groups (daily treatment—Group 1, every- other-day treatment—Group 2, and control—Group 3). Scheffe's multiple ‘comparison procedure was used post hac 10 determine intergroup differences. All statistical analyses were performed at the .05 level of significance. RESULTS: General Observations Throughout the electrical stimulation period, the animals appeared to be in ‘00d health, No limp or gait defect im the treated extremities after the electri- cal stimulation was noted. Also, no ad- verse effect of repeated anesthesia on the rats was noted. Forty minutes after the administration of anesthesia, the ani- mals were normally active. The food and water intake of the treated animals, did not differ from that of the controls. After two weeks of electrical stimula. tion treatment, the thigh and leg size increased notably. Girths of these re sions by the end ofthe treatment period (three weeks) were larger than those of the sham extremities (Tab. 1). When analyzed statistically, the difference in the girth of the treated thighs of both ‘groups was significantly different (p = 002) when compared with sham values (Tab. 2). A statistical difference (p = 03) between treated and sham leg girths, however, was noted only in the animals of Group 2 (Tab. 2). Ultrastructural Assessment Morphotogy—control animals. The fine structure of the normal control me- dial quadriceps femoris muscle was dif- ferent from that of the hamstring muscle (semitendinosus and semimembrano- sus), Subcellular components vary nor- mally in different muscles according 10 fiber type.'*" The medial quadriceps femoris muscle was characterized by a relatively sparse number of mitochon- dria, a sizeable number of triads, and clusters of glycogen particles located be- tween the muscle myofibrils (Fig. 1a). In contrast, the medial hamstring mus- cle (Fig. 1b) appeared to have fewer mitochondria than the medial quadri- ‘eps femoris muscle, but the number of triads and the glycogen content of the medial hamstring muscle appeared to be greater than that seen in the medial quadriceps femoris muscle, The ultra. structure of quadriceps femoris and hhamstring muscles from the sham ex- tremities was similar to those of the normal controls. Morphology—treatment animals. ‘The number and size of triads in some micrographs of the treated quadriceps femoris and hamstring muscles (Figs. 2 and 3) appeared to be slightly decreased ‘when compared with those of the con- trols. We acknowledge, however, that in other micrographs these characteristics of the triad appeared to be unaffected by electrical stimulation treatment. The ‘mitochondria in the medial quadriceps femoris muscle of a Group 1 animal (Fig. 2) and the medial hamstring mus- cle (Fig. 3) in both Groups | and 2 appeared 10 be more numerous and Jager in size than these organelles in the controls (Figs. 1a and Ib). There was no apparent change in the number and size of the mitochondria of the medial quad- riceps femoris muscles of the Group 2 PHYSICAL THERAPY Morp TH squat rep mals 207 cal st the e nifica was 1 frat reps (oo (Tab triad cers aie treatn and? with v (oss analy tetve the su ofthe tistical and s The media Signi in Gr am?) v tes 0 both ‘muscle surface plasm Volum animals, as compared with those of the controls. A differential effect on the mi: tochondria was observed after different electrical stimulation treatments. In zencral, the amount of glycogen seemed fo be influenced by the electrical stim- ulation treatments in a similar manner to the differential effect on the mito- chondria. When compared with the con- trols, the number of glycogen particles was decreased in the medial hamstring muscles (Fig. 3) of both treatment groups. There was no apparent decrease, however, in the number of glycogen par- ticles in the medial quadriceps femoris muscles of either treatment group when compared to the controls. Other fea- tures, A bands, I bands, and Z disks, were unaffected by electrical stimulation treatment and resembled those features of the control animals, Morphometric Analysis ‘Triads. The mean triad number per square micrometer of the medial quad- Ticeps femoris muscle fibers of the ani- mals in Group 1 (0.68/um’) and Group 2(0.71/um*) was unaltered after electri- cal stimulation in contrast to those of the controls (0.95/um’) (Tab. 3). A sig- nificant decrease (p = .005), however, was noted in the mean triad volume fraction (% volume) in the medial quad- riceps femoris muscle fibers of Group | (0.92%) and Group 2 (0.94%) animals (Tab. 3). Quantification of the mean triad surface area in the medial quadri- cxps femoris muscle cells demonstrated a significant decrease (p = .03) after treatment in Groups 1 (0.41 ym?/um?) and 2 (0.48 um*/um?) when compared With values noted in untreated animals (0.63 wm'/um’) (Tab. 3). A post hoc analysis did not reveal any differences between cither the volume fraction or the surface area per unit volume means of the animals in Groups I and 2. Sta- tistical analyses are shown in Tables 4 and 5. ‘The mean number of triads in the medial hamstring muscle cells decreased significantly (p = 0.004) after treatment in Groups 1 (0.68/um*) and 2 (0.66/ um?) when compared with control val- vues (0.98/um*) (Tab. 3). In addition, both treatment procedures caused a sig- nificant decrease (p = .0001) in the ‘mean volume fraction of triads in these muscle fibers (Tab. 3). The mean triad surface area per unit volume of sarco- plasm in the medial hamstring muscle Volume 66 / Number 6, June 1986 Fig. 1a. Medial quacticeps femoris muscle ‘of control animal. Mitochondria (M). ads (double arrownead), glycogen particles (ar. ownead) (x 22,000). 1b- Medal hamstring ‘muscle ofa contro arimal Few mitochoncria (M) are present, but tiads (double arrow- head) and glycogen particies (arrowhead) are ‘numerous (x 22,000). fibers also decreased significantly (p< 0.0001) in Group 1 (0.39 um?/um’) and Group 2 (0.39 um?/umm?) animals when compared with the surface area in the control animals (0.74 wm?/um') (Tab. 3). A past hoe analysis did. not reveal any differences between the triad num- ber, volume fraction, or surface area per unit volume means of the medial ham- string muscles of the animals in Groups 1 and 2, To summarize, the size and number of triads in both the medial quadriceps femoris and hamstring mus- les of the animals in the treatment groups decreased as a result of three Fig. 2. Medial quacriceps femons muscle (ofa Group 1 anmal. Note the many large ‘mitochondria (M). Triads (double arrowneac), ‘alycogen particles (artownoad) (x 22.000), Fig. 3. _Mectal hamstring muscle of a Group anal. Mitochondria (M) are numerous, but ‘nad (double arrowhead) ane glycogen par- ticles (arrowhead) are rare (x 22,000), ‘weeks of electrical stimulation, as com- pared with the controls. Mitochondria, No difference was seen in the mean number per square mi- crometer of mitochondrial profiles in the medial quadriceps femoris fibers of either Group 1 (0.75/um:) or Group 2 (0.53/am') animals when compared with that of the control animals (0.63/ um?) (Tab. 6). The mean mitochondrial volume fraction (5.1%) in these muscle cells of Group 1 animals increased sig- nificantly (p = .02) over the volume fraction (3.6%) of the control animals’ ‘medial quadriceps muscles (Tab. 6). The 949 mean mitochondrial surface area per unit volume of cytoplasm in the medial quadriceps femoris muscle fibers of Group 1 animals (0.99 ym"/um?) also increased significantly (p = .03) when ‘compared with the mitochondrial sur- face area per unit volume in these mus- cle fibers of the control animals (0.75 um?/um?) (Tab. 6). No difference was seen in mitochondrial volume fraction and surface area per unit volume of sarcoplasm in the medial quadriceps femoris muscle fibers of Group 2 ani- ‘mals when compared with control ani- mals (Tab. 6). ‘Quantification revealed a significant increase (p = .04) in the mean number of mitochondria per square micrometer in the medial hamstring muscle cells of both Group | (0.86/um") and Group 2 Tames nd Standard Eos of Mens for Tiads Ate Sharer Elec Smuation Tnbeta— Vaumg Sac en hd pero ras mp wee Ooty Ya, (ber wn?) ofa) a er ee 1 wedees 068 012092 01m hoe ‘one 2 moans 071008084005" 048008 ‘ore 8 euniape 085 008148 cid onda? one 1 nanouigs 088008 088 cos 09 ose 2 fammgs 066 Gore Oss Goes Gane 3 fous 056 00s 17 tos are om "ps 005. °ps 03. BE one “p= 0001. Tames Elmar ANOVA or Mscondi Td, yout, and 2D Within Mad Ganson tame Meee comets vaase__a 8s Toda wa O10 —Oan0S 809

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