Article

The goals of this work were to analyze the skeletal muscle changes
after complete spinal cord injury (SCI) in rats and to compare the effects of
electrical stimulation and whole-body vibration on prevention of muscle
hypotrophy in these animals. DESIGN: Seven-week-old male Wistar rats were divided
into four groups: (1) sham operation (sham, n = 12), (2) SCI (n = 10), (3) SCI +
electrical stimulation (n = 9), and (4) SCI + whole-body vibration (n = 9).
Complete SCI was generated by surgical transection of the cord at the T10 level.
Therapies were initiated 3 days after the surgery and continued for 30 days at a
frequency of 3 days per week, 20 mins per day. The animals were killed on day 33
after injury for subsequent analyses. RESULTS: SCI caused a significant decrease
in muscle mass and fibers, perimeter measurements, and mechanical resistance to
traction as well as an increase in fibrotic tissue. Electrical stimulation, but
not whole-body vibration, resulted in significant partial muscle hypotrophy
prevention. CONCLUSIONS: Electrical stimulation may be a potentially beneficial
therapeutic modality to prevent muscle hypotrophy after SCI.

Langue : ANGLAIS