ESPEN 2012 - Late breaking abstract submission

Topic: Late Breaking Abstract

Abs n°:ESPEN12-1927

Abs Title: NEUROMUSCULAR ELECTRICAL STIMULATION INCREASES SKELETAL MUSCLE PROTEIN SYNTHESIS RATES IN ELDERLY, TYPE 2 DIABETIC MEN

I. W. K. Kouw ^1,*B. T. Wall ¹M. L. Dirks ¹L. B. Verdijk ¹T. Snijders ¹D. Hansen ^{2 3}P. Vranckx ⁴N. A. Burd ¹J. Senden ¹P. Dendale ^{2 3}L. J. van Loon ¹

¹Human Movement Sciences, NUTRIM School for Nutrition, Toxicology and Metabolism, Maastricht University Medical Centre+, Maastricht, Netherlands, ²Faculty of Medicine, Hasselt University , Diepenbeek, ³Heart Centre Hasselt, Jessa Hospital, ⁴Cardiac Intensive Care and Interventional Cardiology, Heart Centre , Hasselt, Belgium

Rationale: Neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES) has been suggested to serve as viable substitute for physical activity during compromised conditions that impose skeletal muscle disuse (due to illness or injury). The present study investigated whether NMES increases skeletal muscle protein synthesis rates in vivo in older, type 2 diabetic patients.

Methods: Six sedentary, type 2 diabetic men (age: 70±2 y, BMI: 26.5±1.0 kg/m²) received a primed, constant infusion of L-[ring-¹³C₆]phenylalanine. Following 90 min of infusion, a 60 min session of one-legged, high-intensity NMES was applied. Blood and muscle samples were collected regularly to assess muscle protein synthesis rates in both the stimulated (STIM) and non-stimulated control (CON) leg during 4 h of acute post-exercise recovery following NMES. Furthermore, mRNA expression of key regulatory genes was measured in both the stimulated and control leg.

Results: Mixed muscle protein synthesis rates were increased by 25% and 26% during the 0-2 h (P=0.06) and 2-4 h (P<0.05) post stimulation period in the STIM compared with CON leg. The cumulative muscle protein synthetic response during the 4 h recovery period of NMES was greater in the STIM when compared with the CON leg (0.057±0.008 and 0.045±0.008 %h^-1, respectively; P<0.01). Skeletal muscle myostatin mRNA expression strongly declined after 2 and 4 h of recovery in the STIM leg only (P<0.05).  

Conclusion: This is the first study to show that NMES directly stimulates skeletal muscle protein synthesis rates and inhibits myostatin expression in vivo in type 2 diabetic patients. These data imply that NMES represents an effective interventional strategy to attenuate muscle loss in various settings of muscle disuse.

Disclosure of Interest: None Declared

Keywords: Neuromuscular electrical stimulationprotein synthesis