Massage therapy attenuates NFκB nuclear accumulation and inflammatory cytokine production following damage in human skeletal muscle
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ABSTRACT: Massage therapy is commonly used for the physical rehabilitation of skeletal muscle to ameliorate pain and promote recovery from injury. While there is some evidence that massage may relieve pain in injured muscle, the cellular effects remain unknown. To assess the effects of massage, we administered either massage therapy or no treatment to separate quadriceps of eleven young, male participants after exercised-induced muscle damage. Muscle biopsies were acquired from the quadriceps (vastus lateralis) at baseline (rest), immediately after 10 minutes of massage treatment (0h), and after a 2.5 hour period of recovery. We found that massage activated the mechanotransduction signaling pathways FAK and Erk1/2, potentiated mitochondrial biogenesis signaling (nuclear PGC-1α), and mitigated the rise in NFkB (p65) nuclear accumulation caused by muscle trauma. Moreover, in spite of having no effect on muscle metabolites (glycogen, lactate), massage attenuated the production of the inflammatory cytokines TNF-α and IL-6 and reduced HSP27 phosphorylation, effectively mitigating cellular stress resulting from myofiber injury. In summary, massage therapy appears to be clinically beneficial when administered to acutely damaged skeletal muscle by reducing inflammation and promoting mitochondrial biogenesis. 55 muscle biopsies were used in this study as material to evaluate the effects of massage on gene expression. These biopsies were taken from the vastus lateralis of eleven healthy recreationally active males with full ethical approval at McMaster's university. Each individual had an initial biopsy at rest (baseline), followed by exercist testing for peak aerobic capacity. On a second visit, the individual performed a bout of exhaustive aerobic exercise, prior to recieving a randomized massage treatment to one leg. Immediatley following the exercise, subjects were allowed to recover for 10 minutes, while massage oil was lightly applied to both quadriceps. Then a single leg was randomized to recieve massage treatment for 10 minutes. Subjects then rested for 10 minutes, and one additional biopsies were carried out (on each leg). Two and half hours later (3 hours after the cessation of the exercise bout), 2 more biopsies were taken (one from each leg). This amounted to 5 biopsies from each individual.
ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens
SUBMITTER: Simon Melov
PROVIDER: E-GEOD-33603 | biostudies-arrayexpress |
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-arrayexpress
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