Involvement of inflammation in skeletal muscle hypertrophy and physical exercise performance

• Grant number: 20/00707-0
• Support type: Regular Research Grants
• Duration: March 01, 2021 - February 28, 2023
• Field of knowledge: Biological Sciences - Physiology - Physiology of Effort
• Cooperation agreement: Universities New Zealand, Te Pōkai Tara
• Mobility Program: SPRINT - Projetos de pesquisa - Mobilidade
• Principal researcher: Rui Curi
• Grantee: Rui Curi
• Home Institution: Centro de Ciências Biológicas e da Saúde. Universidade Cruzeiro do Sul (UNICSUL). São Paulo , SP, Brazil
• Associated research grant: 18/09868-7 - Cellular and molecular mechanisms of insulin resistance and inflammation in obese Wistar rats and lean Goto-Kakizaki rats: causes and associations with diet and physical exercise, AP.TEM

Abstract

Researchers in New Zealand conduct experiments in humans, investigating postexercise muscle inflammation and beetroot juice supplementation. For these analyses, muscle biopsy is performed and inflammatory markers are evaluated by gene expression after an isokinetic dynamometer contraction session and correlated with force recovery up to 48 hours after exercise. Brazilian researchers have as main objective to evaluate the inflammatory response and the mechanisms of muscle regeneration and remodelling after seven and thirty days of compensatory overload in muscles with predominance of glycolytic and oxidative fibres, concomitantly with the establishment of streptozotocin-induced diabetic state in rats. The evaluations performed are gene and protein expression of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines, observation through histological analysis of the presence of leukocyte infiltrates and type I and III collagen fibres in muscle tissue and the pattern of activation of satellite cells, as well as the expression of growth factors in this model (São Paulo Research Foundation - FAPESP, Process nº 2019/19097-0). The study on skeletal muscle hypertrophy is performed in rats and, currently, there is no experiment on human skeletal muscles and muscle cell culture being carried out by the Brazilian research group. In fact, the Brazilian group has no expertise in human skeletal muscle biopsy. The research group at Massey University has the expertise to extract human skeletal muscle samples before and after physical exercise. On the other hand, muscle tissue histology studies, routinely performed by the Brazilian group, is not conducted by the New Zealand counterpart but are a key technique they require for their studies. The partnership will be important to introduce the biopsy technique to the Brazilian research group and the skeletal muscle histology technique to the School of Health Sciences at Massey University. The researchers will also use the exchange period to explore the research facilities of Massey University and Cruzeiro do Sul University to come up with a robust collaborative research proposal. The large proposal will then merge the current and common interests in the inflammatory process during skeletal muscle hypertrophy. (AU)