2018 Volume 25 Issue 1 Pages 42-49
We investigated the effects of middle frequency electrical stimulation on mitochondrial dysfunction and capillary regression in soleus muscle with monocrotaline-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) in rats. Male Wistar rats were divided into three groups: control, monocrotaline-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension (MCT), and monocrotaline-induced pulmonary arterial hypertension plus electrical stimulation (MCT+ES) groups. After 2 weeks from the injection of monocrotaline, the rats in MCT+ES group were electrically stimulated on calf muscles once a day for 3 weeks. The rats in the MCT and MCT+ES groups exhibited an increase in lung weight, pulmonary arterial wall thickness, and right heart ventricular weight. In addition, the rats in the MCT group showed a reduction of succinate dehydrogenase (SDH), citrate synthase (CS), and b-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase (b-HAD) activities, capillary regression, and a decrease in PGC-1a protein expression in the soleus muscle. In contrast, middle frequency electrical stimulation attenuated these changes induced by PAH. In summary, middle frequency electrical stimulation could prevent PAH-induced skeletal muscular mitochondrial dysfunction and capillary regression via enhancing PGC-1a pathway without adverse effects on cardiopulmonary tissues.
