Sophia Kapchinsky, Madhusudanarao Vuda, Kayla Miguez, Daren Elkrief, Angela R de Souza, Carolyn J Baglole, Sudhakar Aare, Norah J MacMillan, Jacinthe Baril, Paul Rozakis, Vita Sonjak, Charlotte Pion, Mylène Aubertin-Leheudre, Jose A Morais, R Thomas Jagoe, Jean Bourbeau, Tanja Taivassalo, Russell T Hepple
A neurological basis for the fast fibre shift and atrophy seen in limb muscle of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has not been considered previously. The objective of our study was: (i) to determine if denervation contributes to fast fibre shift and muscle atrophy in COPD; and (ii) to assess using a preclinical smoking mouse model whether chronic tobacco smoke (TS) exposure could initiate denervation by causing neuromuscular junction (NMJ) degeneration. Vastus lateralis muscle biopsies were obtained from severe COPD patients (n = 10 with low fat free mass index [FFMI], 65 y; n = 15 normal FFMI, 65 y) and healthy age- and activity-matched non-smoker control subjects (CON; n = 11, 67 y), to evaluate morphological and transcriptional markers of denervation...
April 16, 2018: Journal of Physiology