OXIDATIVE STRESS DURING RECOVERY FROM MUSCLE ATROPHY

Single ankle joints of male Wistar rats (15-week-old) were immobilized in the extended position for 7 days and remobilized for 5 days after the immobilization period. Atrophic and contralateral soleus, typical slow red muscles, were collected and their levels of thiobarbituric ac id-reactive substance (TBARS) and glutathione were measured. Five-day remobilization did not increase muscle weight significantly. However, there were significant increases in TBARS and oxidized glutathione in the recovering muscle, which strongly suggested that enhanced oxidativ e stress occurred during the recovery from disuse muscle atrophy. Vita min E injection accelerated the recovery from atrophy, thus showing th at oxidative stress slowed it down.