Formoterol treatment prevents the effects of endotoxin on muscle TNF/NF-kB, Akt/mTOR, and proteolytic pathways in a rat model. Role of IGF-I and miRNA 29b.

Inflammatory diseases are associated with muscle wasting as a result of an increase in proteolysis. The purpose of this study was to elucidate whether administration of a β2 adrenergic agonist, formoterol, was able to prevent the acute effects of sepsis induced by liposaccharide (LPS) injection on rat gastrocnemius muscle and to evaluate the possible roles of corticosterone, IGF-I, miR-23a, and miR-29b. For this purpose, male Wistar rats were injected with LPS and/or formoterol. Formoterol treatment decreased LPS-induced increase in serum corticosterone, TNFα upregulation, and NF-κB(p65) and Forkhead box protein O1 activation in the gastrocnemius. Atrogin-1, muscle RING-finger protein-1, microtubule-associated protein-1 light chain 3b (LC3b), and the lipidation of LC3b-I to LC3b-II were increased by LPS, and formoterol blocked these effects. Serum IGF-I and its mRNA levels in the gastrocnemius were decreased, whereas mecano growth factor and IGF binding protein 3 mRNA levels were increased in the rats injected with LPS but not in the rats that received LPS and formoterol. Similarly, LPS decreased Akt and mammalian target of rapamycin phosphorylation, and formoterol blocked these decreases. Finally, miR-29b expression in the gastrocnemius was upregulated by endotoxin injection, whereas miR-23a was not significantly different. Formoterol treatment did not significantly modify LPS-induced increase in muscle miR-29b. Furthermore, in control rats formoterol increased the expression of this miRNA. We conclude that formoterol decreases endotoxin-induced inflammation and proteolysis in rat skeletal muscle. Those responses can be a direct effect of β2 adrenergic receptor stimulation or/and of blocking the effects of LPS on corticosterone and IGF-I. Muscle miR-23a and -29b do not seem to play an important role in those responses.