Impact of in vivo electrical stimulation during denervation dis-use muscle atrophy.

Male albino rats were sciatectomized and kept for 30 days to assess the induced oxidative damage due to disuse gastrocnemius muscle atrophy. An enhanced lipid peroxidation was recorded with elevated activity levels of conjugated diens, malondialdehyde and other thiobarbituric acid reactive substances in denervated muscle. The activity levels of antioxidant defense enzymes, viz. superoxide dismutase, catalase, glutathioneperoxidase (selenium, non-selenium), glutathione reductase, glutathione-s-transferase were depleted in the denervated muscle. The denervated muscle was subjected to a programme of in vivo electrical stimulations, revealed a depleted lipid peroxidation and increased activity levels of antioxidant defense enzymes. The results, suggest that the programme of in vivo electrical stimulation could prevent the oxidative damage in gastrocnemius muscle despite denervation.