Effects of chronic low frequency stimulation on structural and metabolic properties of hindlimb suspended rat soleus muscle.

The use of chronic low frequency stimulations (CLFS, 10 Hz bipolar current 8 h.day-1) as a countermeasure against unweighting-induced muscle alterations was investigated in rat soleus muscle during 21 days of hindlimb suspension (HS). It was shown that CLFS was able to minimize the soleus muscle atrophy induced by suspension (-29% in stimulated muscles compared to -56% in the non-stimulated soleus muscle). In parallel, CLFS partly prevented the HS-induced decreases in the cross-sectional area of type I fibres and in the total and myofibril protein contents. Stimulation at low frequency reduced the increase in the fast-myosin expression recorded with unweighting. Moreover, the HS-induced increase in glycolytic capacity was counteracted to a considerable extent by CLFS. In conclusion, the results of this study showed that CLFS can only partly prevent the HS-induced modifications in the soleus muscle. However, the limited effectiveness of CLFS to prevent muscle atrophy emphasized the critical role of reduced load bearing in the induction of soleus muscle atrophy.