Vitamin C administration attenuates overload-induced skeletal muscle hypertrophy in rats

Aim This study aimed to investigate the effects of vitamin C administration on skeletal muscle hypertrophy induced by mechanical overload in rats. Methods Male Wistar rats were randomly assigned to three groups: (i) sham‐operated group (n = 8), (ii) placebo‐administered group (n = 8) and (iii) vitamin C‐administered group (n = 8). In the placebo‐administered and vitamin C‐administered groups, the gastrocnemius and soleus muscles of the right hindlimb were surgically removed to overload the plantaris muscle. Vitamin C (500 mg kg−1) was orally administered to the vitamin C‐administered group once a day for 14 days. Results Synergist muscle ablation caused significant increases in wet weight and protein concentration of the plantaris muscle in both the placebo‐administered (P