Impact of physical training on the ultrastructure of midthigh muscle in normal subjects and in patients treated with glucocorticoids

Exercise-training might be a logical method to reverse muscle atrophy and weakness in patients treated with glucocorticoids. The purpose of the present investigation was to establish whether a treatment with low dose prednisone (10 +/- 2.9 mg/d) modulates the effect of a moderate strength type isoki...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of clinical investigation 1987-04, Vol.79 (4), p.1181-1190
Main Authors: HORBER, F. F, HOOPELER, H, SCHEIDEGGER, J. R, GRÜNIG, B. E, FREY, F. J
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Biological and medical sciences
Exercise Therapy
Humans
Isometric Contraction
Mathematics
Medical sciences
Microscopy, Electron
Muscle
Muscles - ultrastructure
Pharmacology. Drug treatments
Prednisone - therapeutic use
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
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Summary:Exercise-training might be a logical method to reverse muscle atrophy and weakness in patients treated with glucocorticoids. The purpose of the present investigation was to establish whether a treatment with low dose prednisone (10 +/- 2.9 mg/d) modulates the effect of a moderate strength type isokinetic training during 7 wk (21 sessions of 20 min) on "muscle efficiency" (power output/muscle mass) and on concomitant changes in ultrastructure of the thigh muscle measured by quantitative electron-microscopic morphometry. Training caused a similar increase in "muscle efficiency" in patients on prednisone (n = 9) as in normal volunteers (n = 9). In normal subjects the increase in muscle efficiency was associated with an increase in sarcoplasm, whereas in patients on prednisone the functional improvement was associated with an increase in sarcoplasm, capillaries, and mitochondria content. Thus, a therapy with low dose prednisone does not abrogate training-induced improvement of muscle efficiency but modulates the ultrastructural response of the muscle to the training.
ISSN:0021-9738
1558-8238
DOI:10.1172/JCI112935