Electrical Stimulation of Denervated Rat Skeletal Muscle Ameliorates Bone Fragility and Muscle Loss in Early-Stage Disuse Musculoskeletal Atrophy

We tested whether daily muscle electrical stimulation (ES) can ameliorate the decrease in cortical bone strength as well as muscle and bone geometric and material properties in the early stages of disuse musculoskeletal atrophy. 7-week-old male F344 rats were randomly divided into three groups: age-matched control group (Cont); a sciatic denervation group (DN); and a DN + direct electrical stimulation group (DN + ES). Denervated tibialis anterior (TA) muscle in the DN + ES group received ES with 16 mA at 10 Hz for 30 min/day, 6 days/week. Micro CT, the three-point bending test, and immunohistochemistry were used to characterize cortical bone mechanical, structural, and material properties of tibiae. TA muscle in the DN + ES group showed significant improvement in muscle mass and myofiber cross-sectional area relative to the DN group. Maximal load and stiffness of tibiae, bone mineral density estimated by micro CT, and immunoreactivity of DMP1 in the cortical bone tissue were also significantly greater in the DN + ES group than in the DN group. These results suggest that daily ES-induced muscle contraction treatment reduced the decrease in muscle mass and cortical bone strength in early-stage disuse musculoskeletal atrophy and is associated with a beneficial effect on material properties such as mineralization of cortical bone tissue.