Electroacupuncture alleviates multifidus muscle injury by modulating mitochondrial function and Ca2+ uptake.

Multifidus muscles maintain the stability of the lumbar spine and play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of nonspecific lower back pain. Previous studies have shown that electroacupuncture (EA) can relieve the symptoms of low back pain and reduce injury to the lumbar multifidus muscles. In this study, a rat model of lumbar multifidus muscle injury was established by 0.05% bupivacaine injection and subsequently treated with EA at bilateral "Weizhong" (BL40) acupoints. Disruption of the function and structure of multifidus muscles, increased cytosolic Ca2+ in multifidus myocytes, and reduced mitochondrial fission and ATP production were observed in the model group. Additionally, increased expression of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU) promoted mitochondrial reuptake of Ca2+ , reversing the excessive increase in cytoplasmic Ca2+ . However, the excessive increase in MCU not only aggravated the increased cytoplasmic Ca2+ but also decreased the expression of the mitochondrial division proteins dynamin-related protein 1 (Drp1) and mitochondrial fission factor (MFF). EA inhibited the overexpression of MCU, promoted mitochondrial reuptake of Ca2+ , and reversed cytosolic Ca2+ overload. Furthermore, EA regulated the expression of the mitochondrial fission proteins Drp1 and MFF and promoted the production of ATP, helping the recovery of mitochondrial function after multifidus injury. Therefore, EA can protect against bupivacaine-induced mitochondrial dysfunction, possibly by attenuating MCU overexpression in the inner mitochondrial membrane and reducing Ca2+ overloading in muscle cells, thereby protecting mitochondrial function and maintaining the normal energy demand of muscle cells.

A molecular insight into the lipid changes of pig Longissimus thoracis muscle following dietary supplementation with functional ingredients.

In this work, the Longissimus thoracis pig skeletal muscle was used as a model to investigate the impact of two different diets, supplemented with n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids from extruded linseed (L) and polyphenols from grape skin and oregano extracts (L+P), on the lipidomic profile of meat. A standard diet for growing-finishing pigs (CTRL) was used as a control. Changes in lipids profile were investigated through an untargeted lipidomics and transcriptomics combined investigation. The lipidomics identified 1507 compounds, with 195 compounds fitting with the MS/MS spectra of LipidBlast database. When compared with the CTRL group, the L+P diet significantly increased 15 glycerophospholipids and 8 sphingolipids, while the L diet determined a marked up-accumulation of glycerolipids. According to the correlations outlined between discriminant lipids and genes, the L diet may act preventing adipogenesis and the related inflammation processes, while the L+P diet promoted the expression of genes involved in lipids' biosynthesis and adipogenic extracellular matrix formation and functioning.

FDG PET/CT of Metabolic Myopathy With Posttreatment Follow-up.

A 38-year-old woman presented with extreme fatigue and multiple lung nodules. She was referred for a PET/CT, which demonstrated multiple FDG-avid pulmonary nodules and lymph nodes with intense uptake within multiple muscle groups predominantly involving the paraspinal muscles and muscles of mastication. Histopathology of a paraspinal muscle biopsy revealed increased skeletal muscle lipid stores and increased mitochondria with normal morphology. This abnormality is seen in metabolic myopathy due to a disorder of fatty acid oxidation. Transbronchial biopsy showed no evidence of sarcoidosis. The patient was commenced on carnitine and riboflavin supplementation, and a follow-up PET/CT was performed.

Effect of oregano essential oil supplementation to a reduced-protein, amino acid-supplemented diet on meat quality, fatty acid composition, and oxidative stability of Longissimus thoracis muscle in growing-finishing pigs.

This study investigated the effects of reduced-protein, amino acid-supplemented diet supplementation with oregano essential oil (OEO) in pigs, from growing period to slaughter, on the meat quality, fatty acid composition, and oxidative stability of Longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle. Thirty-six barrows were randomly divided into three experimental treatments, namely, normal protein diet (NPD), reduced-protein, amino acid-supplemented diet (RPD), and identical RPD supplemented (250mg/kg feed) with OEO (OEO) treatments. Dietary RPD and OEO increased the b*45min, tenderness, overall acceptance, and intramuscular fat (IMF) content of pork compared with dietary NPD. The percentage of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid (n-3 PUFA) and the percentage of monounsaturated fatty acid in OEO muscle were higher and lower than those in RPD muscle, respectively. Dietary OEO improved oxidative stability, total antioxidative capacity, and catalase but decreased drip loss in LT muscle. Results indicated that dietary OEO enhanced the sensory attributes and anti-oxidative status of pork meat by improving IMF and n-3 PUFA proportion and antioxidative capacity.

Dietary whole and cracked linseed increases the proportion of oleic and α-linolenic acids in adipose tissues and decreases stearoyl-coenzyme A desaturase, acetyl-coenzyme A carboxylase, and fatty acid synthase gene expression in the longissimus thoracis muscle of Yanbian Yellow cattle.

We hypothesized that supplementation of linseed in a beef cattle fattening diet would increase PUFA concentrations in intramuscular adipose tissue and depress (), (), and () gene expression by decreasing () expression. Conversely, supplemental linseed would upregulate expression of () and () in muscle of Yanbian Yellow steers. Thirty steers were assigned at random to 3 groups of 10 steers fed either the basal diet (corn grain and corn silage-based commercial concentrate [CON]), the CON diet plus 8% whole linseed (WLS; DM basis), or the CON diet plus 8% cracked linseed (CLS; DM basis) for 6 mo. The WLS and CLS supplements did not affect carcass weight, backfat thickness, or marbling scores ( > 0.10) but increased rib eye area and fat color (more yellow; < 0.05). The WLS and CLS diets decreased the proportions of 16:0 and 18:0 and increased the proportions of 18:1-9, 18:3-3, -9, -11 conjugated linoleic acid, total MUFA, and total PUFA in intramuscular, intermuscular, and subcutaneous adipose tissues. The WLS and CLS diets increased and gene expression whereas the supplements depressed , , , and gene expression in longissimus thoracis muscle, relative to CON muscle, consistent with our hypothesis. Because the WLS and CLS treatments did not affect any measure of carcass adiposity, these results indicated that linseed supplements promoted uptake of dietary lipids while concurrently depressing de novo fatty acid biosynthesis in adipose tissue.

Effects of dietary supplementation of selenium and iodine on growth performance, carcass characteristics and histology of thyroid gland in goats.

This study assessed the effects of dietary selenium (Se), iodine (I) and a combination of both on growth performance, thyroid gland activity, carcass characteristics and the concentration of iodine and selenium in Longissimus lumborum (LL) muscle in goats. Twenty-four bucks were randomly assigned to four dietary treatments: control (CON), basal diet without supplementation, basal diet + 0.6 mg Se/kg dry matter (DM) (SS), 0.6 mg I/kg DM (IP), or combination of 0.6 mg/kg DM Se and 0.6 mg/kg DM I (SSIP) and fed for 100 days. Animals fed diet SSIP exhibited higher (P < 0.05) body weight and better feed conversion ratio (FCR) than those fed other diets. Dressing percentage of goats fed the supplemented diets was higher (P < 0.05) than that of the control. Carcasses from the IP group had higher (P < 0.05) total fat proportion than the SSIP group. The levels of both elements were significantly elevated (P < 0.05) in LL muscle in supplemented goats. Thyroid follicular epithelial cells of IP and SSIP animals were significantly higher than those of CON and SS groups. The study demonstrated that the combined Se and I dietary supplementation improves growth performance, carcass dressing percentage and increases the retention of Se and I in goat meat.

Effect of whole cottonseed v. sunflower seed on the fatty acid profile of subcutaneous fat, longissimus dorsi and blood of Thai Native and Holstein bulls.

In a 2×2 factorial design, 12 Thai Native and 12 Holstein bulls were fed ad libitum a total mixed ration (20 : 80; roughage : concentrate) with whole cottonseed (WCS) or sunflower seed (SFS) as oilseed sources. The rations contained 7% crude fat and were fed for 90 days. Plasma was taken at three times during the experiment, and at slaughter the longissimus dorsi and subcutaneous fat were sampled for fatty acid analysis. Ration did not affect rumen fermentation parameters. The plasma fatty acid profile was not affected by ration. In subcutaneous fat, a ration×breed interaction for the saturated fatty acid (SFA) and c9t11 CLA proportions was observed, resulting from larger differences between the rations in Thai Native compared with Holstein bulls. The WCS ration resulted in higher proportions of SFA and lower proportions of monounsaturated fatty acids and c9,t11 CLA compared with the SFS ration (P<0.01). In the intramuscular fat, the WCS ration was also associated with a lower c9t11 CLA proportion (P<0.01) and higher SFA proportion (P<0.05). The intramuscular proportion of polyunsaturated acids was higher and the proportion of SFA was lower in Thai Native compared with Holstein bulls (P<0.05), irrespective of ration.

iTRAQ-based quantitative proteomic analysis of longissimus muscle from growing pigs with dietary supplementation of non-starch polysaccharide enzymes.

Non-starch polysaccharide enzymes (NSPEs) have long been used in the feed production of monogastric animals to degrade non-starch polysaccharide to oligosaccharides and promote growth performance. However, few studies have been conducted on the effect of such enzymes on skeletal muscle in monogastric animals. To elucidate the mechanism of the effect of NSPEs on skeletal muscle, an isobaric tag for relative and absolute quantification (iTRAQ) for differential proteomic quantitation was applied to investigate alterations in the proteome in the longissimus muscle (LM) of growing pigs after a 50-d period of supplementation with 0.6% NSPEs in the diet. A total of 51 proteins were found to be differentially expressed in the LM between a control group and the NSPE group. Functional analysis of the differentially expressed protein species showed an increased abundance of proteins related to energy production, protein synthesis, muscular differentiation, immunity, oxidation resistance and detoxification, and a decreased abundance of proteins related to inflammation in the LM of the pigs fed NSPEs. These findings have important implications for understanding the mechanisms whereby dietary supplementation with NSPEs enzymes can promote growth performance and improve muscular metabolism in growing pigs.

Breed and dietary linseed affect gene expression of enzymes and transcription factors involved in n-3 long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids synthesis in longissimus thoracis muscle of bulls.

N-3 long-chain (LC) PUFA are known to be beneficial for human development and health. These properties explain the increasing interest in promoting n-3 LC PUFA deposition in bovine muscles, leading to healthier meats. In this context, this study aimed to identify possible limiting steps in the bioconversion of 18:3n-3 into n-3 LC PUFA in the longissimus thoracis (LT) muscle of 36 Aberdeen Angus, Limousin, and Blond d'Aquitaine bulls (n = 12 per breed) that were fed, for the 105-d finishing period, either a concentrate-based diet (25% molasses straw to 75% concentrate, on a raw basis; CON) or the same CON diet supplemented with extruded linseed (44.5 g lipid/kg diet DM) mixed into the concentrate (LINS). The fatty acid (FA) composition of the LT muscle was determined by GLC, and the mRNA abundances for enzymes and transcription factors involved in n-3 LC PUFA synthesis were determined by quantitative real-time PCR. The total lipid concentration in the LT muscle was approximately 2.4-fold greater (P < 0.001) in Angus bulls than in the other breeds and composed of the greatest n-3 PUFA content (P < 0.001) including 18:3n-3 (P < 0.001) and n-3 LC PUFA (P < 0.02), primarily 20:5n-3 (P < 0.007) and 22:5n-3 (P < 0.04). These data were associated with a lesser gene expression (P < 0.02) of 2 enzymes [acyl-CoA oxidase 1 (ACOX1) and L-bifunctional protein (L-PBE)] and 2 transcription factors [liver X receptors (LXR) α and ß] in the LT muscle of Angus bulls compared with gene expression in Limousin bulls. Moreover, the mRNA of elongase 5 was only present in trace amounts in the LT muscle of the 3 breeds. The addition of linseed to the diet resulted in greater deposition of 18:3n-3 (P < 0.001) in the LT muscles of the 3 breeds, without any major changes (P > 0.34) in the n-3 LC PUFA content. Dietary linseed stimulated (P < 0.04) the gene expression of all enzymes and transcription factors involved in n-3 LC PUFA synthesis except elongases 2 and 5 (P > 0.19), the expression of which remained weak and was not inducible. These results reveal a limited capacity for n-3 LC PUFA synthesis from 18:4n-3 (substrate of elongase 5) in the LT muscles of Blond d'Aquitaine, Limousin, and Angus bulls. Therefore, further investigations on the cellular regulation of elongase gene expression are needed to identify the physiological or nutritional factors that efficiently stimulate elongase expression in beef cattle.

Supplemental vitamin D3 and zilpaterol hydrochloride. II. Effect on calcium concentration, muscle fiber type, and calpain gene expression of feedlot steers.

Two hundred and ten Angus × Simmental steers (initial BW 314 ± 11 kg) were separated into heavy and light BW blocks and allotted evenly by BW to 6 treatments (3 heavy and 2 light pens per treatment) to determine the effect of supplemental vitamin D3: 0 IU (no D), 250,000 IU for 165 d (long-term D), or 5 × 10(6) IU for 10 d (short-term D) on plasma and muscle calcium concentrations and gene expression in steers fed either 0 (NZ) or 8.38 mg/kg (ZH) zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH) daily for 21 d. Placebo or ZH was added to the diet 24 d, and short-term D was added 13 d before slaughter. Treatments were removed from all diets 3 d before slaughter. Plasma total calcium (Ca(2+)) was determined at study initiation, start of ZH and short-term D feedings, and at vitamin D3 and ZH withdrawal. Both plasma total and ionic Ca(2+) were determined when animals were sent to harvest. Longissimus muscle total and ionic Ca(2+) were determined in meat aged 7 and 4 d postmortem, respectively. When ZH was fed, long-term D decreased plasma total Ca(2+) at slaughter (P < 0.04). Short-term D increased (P < 0.01) plasma total and ionic Ca(2+) at slaughter regardless of ZH inclusion in the diet. Long- and short-term D, with or without ZH, did not affect (P > 0.28) LM total Ca(2+); however, both long- and short-term D increased LM ionic Ca(2+) when ZH was not fed (P < 0.01). Long-term D reduced LM ionic Ca(2+) when ZH was fed (P < 0.02). Neither long- nor short-term D affected PPARα or δ gene expression (P = 0.19) whether or not ZH was fed. Expression of MYH1 and 2A (P < 0.05) but not 2X (P = 0.21) was decreased in steers fed ZH. Long-term D had no effect on MYH2A expression (P = 0.21). Short-term D increased MYH2A expression when ZH was not fed (P < 0.03). Calpain mRNA tended to be lower in steers fed ZH (P = 0.09), but was not affected by long- or short-term D regardless of whether or not ZH was fed (P = 0.39). Expression of calpastatin did not differ with vitamin D supplementation (P = 0.35). In conclusion, ZH decreased oxidative myosin expression, and when combined with long-term D, ZH decreased LM ionic Ca(2+). Moreover, vitamin D3 supplementation did not increase calpain mRNA. These results help explain why vitamin D3 does not improve tenderness in steers fed ZH.