• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.1-11
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• 2016

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to assess the effects of local vibration on ankle plantarflexion spasticity and clonus in patients with spinal cord injury. METHODS: The subjects were 14 inpatients with complete or incomplete spinal cord injury (SCI) whose scores were higher than 1 on the Modified Ashworth Scale (MAS) and Spinal Cord Assessment Tool for Spastic Reflexes (SCATS) scale of paraplegia. A randomized single-blind cross-over design was used. Vibration treatment involved a single application of vibration for 10 min in the sitting position, and placebo treatment involved the patient remaining in the sitting position for 10 min. One day after treatment, vibration and placebo treatments were crossed over. Spasticity was measured by using the MAS, and resistance force, by using a hand-held dynamometer; clonus was gauged by using the SCATS scale and clonus burst duration. Additionally, the burst maximal frequency and voluntary ankle dorsiflexion angle of the triceps surae were measured. RESULTS: The application of vibration treatment in the sitting position significantly reduced the MAS scores and resistance force, but significantly increased the dorsiflexion angle of the ankle joint (p<0.05). Furthermore, the vibration treatment diminished the clonus burst duration and SCATS score significantly (p<0.05). Although it reduced the burst maximal frequency of the lateral gastrocnemius and medial soleus, this was significant only for the lateral gastrocnemius. The placebo treatment did not significantly affect any of the test parameters. CONCLUSION: Vibration treatment in the sitting position was effective in cases of spasticity and clonus caused by SCI.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.6 no.1
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• pp.61-74
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• 1994

This study was carried out to determine effects of electrical stimulation on the soleus, target muscle of the sciatic newt, of white rat normal muscles. The biometric, histochemical, ultrastructural observations were made. The following results were obtained. A daily electrical stimulation of the skeletal muscle of the normally-functioning rat caused an increase of girth and weight of the muscle fibers for 2 weeks. No noticeable change was observed afterwards. More specifically, the density of volume of the red muscle fiber increased. whereas the density of the white muscle fiber decreased. The electrical stimulation group(experimental group) showed hypertrophy of the muscle fibers and narrowing of the space between perimysium and endomysium. Normally, glycogen granules are accumulated regardless of classification of muscle fibers. In addition, the NADH-TR reaction results were in agreement with the biometric findings, in that the red muscle fibers significantly increased. The ultrastructural observations revealed that mitochondria was formed in the red muscle fiber parallel to the muscle fibers of normal muscle, while mitochondria was observed in the sarcomere region of the white muscle fiber. However, activation of mitochondria took place in the sarcolemma region of the muscle fiber, and generation of mitochondria was observed in the sarcomere region of the white muscle fiber.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.16 no.5
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• pp.305-312
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• 2012

This study was to determine the effect of exercise on the recovery of dopaminergic neuron loss and muscle atrophy in 6-OHDA-induced hemi Parkinson's disease model. Exercise was loaded twice per day for 30 minutes each time, at 5 days after 6-OHDA lesioning and continued for 16 days using a treadmill. Exercise significantly increased the number of tyrosine hydroxylase positive neuron in the lesioned substantia nigra and the expression level of tyrosine hydroxylase in the striatum compared with the control group. To examine which signaling pathways may be involved in the exercise, the phosphorylation of $GSK3{\beta}$ and ERK were observed in the striatum. In the control group, basal level of $GSK3{\beta}$ phosphorylation was less than in both striatum, but exercise increased it. ERK phosphorylation decreased in the lesioned striatum, but exercise recovered it. These findings suggest that exercise inactivates $GSK3{\beta}$ by phosphorylation which may be involved in the neuroprotective effect of exercise on the 6-OHDA-induced cell death. In the exercise group, weight, and Type I and II fiber cross-sectional area of the contralateral soleus significantly recovered and expression of myosin heavy chain and Akt and ERK phosphorylation significantly increased by exercise. These results suggest that exercise recovers Parkinson's disease induced dopaminergic neuron loss and contralateral soleus muscle atrophy.

• The Korean Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.461-467
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• 2014

The hypothesis of this study was that diabetes-induced desensitization of rat soleus (SOL) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) to non-depolarizing muscle relaxants (NDMRs) depends on the stage of diabetes and on the kind of NDMRs. We tested the different magnitude of resistance to vecuronium, cisatracurium, and rocuronium at different stages of streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetes by the EDL sciatic nerve-muscle preparations, and the SOL sciatic nerve-muscle preparations from rats after 4 and 16 weeks of STZ treatment. The concentration-twitch tension curves were significantly shifted from those of the control group to the right in the diabetic groups. Concentration giving 50% of maximal inhibition ($IC_{50}$) was larger in the diabetic groups for all the NDMRs. For rocuronium and cisatracurium in both SOL and EDL, $IC_{50}$ was significantly larger in diabetic 16 weeks group than those in the diabetic 4 weeks group. For SOL/EDL, the $IC_{50}$ ratios were significantly largest in the diabetic 16 weeks group, second largest in the diabetic 4 weeks group, and smallest for the control group. Diabetes-induced desensitization to NDMRs depended on the stage of diabetes and on the different kind of muscles observed while was independent on different kind of NDMRs. The resistance to NDMRs was stronger in the later stage of diabetes (16 versus 4 weeks after STZ treatment). Additionally, when monitoring in SOL, diabetes attenuated the actions of neuromuscular blockade more intensely than that in EDL. Nonetheless, the hyposensitivity to NDMRs in diabetes was not relevant for the kind of NDMRs.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.11 no.4
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• pp.11-17
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• 2016

PURPOSE: There are several standard interventions for managing Achilles tendinitis, including eccentric exercise and calf muscle stretches, orthoses, electrotherapy, and taping. However, no study has determined the effect of non-elastic taping on deloading the Achilles tendon while vertical jumping. Therefore, this study determined the effect of non-elastic taping on ankle dorsiflexion and the triceps surae muscle activity while vertical jumping in healthy subjects. METHODS: The study recruited 17 participants. A motion analysis system was used to measure the angle of ankle dorsiflexion and wireless surface electromyography was used to measure the soleus and gastrocnemius activities while vertical jumping. Non-elastic taping was applied on randomized leg side. All subjects performed maximal effort vertical jumps without and with non-elastic taping, with three trials for each condition. The mean peak dorsiflexion and muscle activities during the three trials were calculated and paired t-tests were used to compare the mean values without and with non-elastic taping. Significance was defined as (p<.05). RESULTS: The maximum angle of ankle dorsiflexion and activity of the gastrocnemius muscle decreased significantly when non-elastic tape was applied (p<.05), while there was no significant difference in the soleus activity between no-taping and taping (p>.05). CONCLUSION: We introduce non-elastic taping as a method to decrease maximum ankle dorsiflexion and gastrocnemius activity while vertical jumping.

• Preventive Nutrition and Food Science
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.113-118
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• 2002

Alpha-lipoic acid is a known hypoglycemic agent that may be useful in the treatment of diabetes. The objective of this study was to investigate the fate of glucose in isolated muscles incubated with lipoic acid by determining its direct effects on specific metabolic and signaling pathways. Soleus muscles from healthy rats were incubated with lipoic acid in the absence or presence of insulin. Glucose transport, glycogen synthesis, glucose oxidation and lipid synthesis were determined and affects on major pathways associated with insulin signaling were evaluated. Glucose transport was not significantly altered by the addition of lipoic acid to the incubation medium. However, lipoic acid decreased glycogen synthesis in comparison to controls. Glucose oxidation was moderately increased while de-novo lipid synthesis from glucose was inhibited. Wortmannin repressed insulin stimulation of glucose incorporation into glycogen, an effect that was augmented by the combined treatment of wortmannin and lipoic acid. Basal and insulin-stimulated serine phosphorylation of Akt was not changed by the addition of lipoic acid to the incubation medium. These data show that in this in vitro model, lipoic acid did not significantly affect glucose uptake but dramatically modified pathways of glucose metabolism within muscle tissue.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.57-63
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• 2009

Purpose: To better understand falls in elderly women, we measured differences in muscle activities of 4 lower extremity muscles (tibialis anterior, soleus, rectus femoris, biceps femoris) based on angle plantar-flexion in elderly women. Methods: Subjects were 15 healthy elderly women. No subjects had musculoskeletal or nervous disorders. EMGs were used to check muscle activity of lower extremity muscles. For statistic analysis, data were expressed as a percentage of maximal voluntary isometric contraction (%MVIC). We measured %MVIC for 5 sec under 4 conditions and did not use data for the first and last second. Muscle activities of the muscles of the lower extremities were measured based on the degree of plantar-flexion of the ankle joint. The 4 conditions corresponded to different degrees of: 0, 10, 20 and 30 degrees. This was done using a 50 cm board for measuring the degrees. Results: The tibialis anterior, soleus, and bicpes femoris showed increasing muscle activity associated with increasing degree of plantar-flexion of the ankle joint. All muscles showed a significant increase in muscle activities in association with increasing degrees. Rectus femoris showed a significant increase in muscle activity for 0 degrees and for the other degrees, but there were no further changes when plantar flexion of the ankle joint was over 10 degrees. Conclusion: Activities of the muscles of the lower extremities except rectus femoris were higher with increasing degree of plantar flexion. High muscle activity may result in muscle fatigue. Thus, increasing degree of plantar flexion may be risk factors of falls in elderly women.

• Food Science of Animal Resources
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• v.32 no.5
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• pp.584-590
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• 2012

This study evaluated the effects of carnosine supplementation on carnosine concentration in muscles and blood biochemical indices of rats. Thirty-two eight-week-old Sprague-Dawley male rats were randomly divided into a control group (CON) as well as three carnosine-treated groups. The carnosine-treated groups included groups fed diets composed of 0.01% carnosine (LC), 0.1% carnosine (MC), and 1.0% carnosine (HC). Body weight gain, food intake, feed efficacy rate, protein efficacy rate, and organ weights were not significantly different among the groups. In all groups, the mean carnosine levels in gastrocnemius muscles were higher than the mean carnosine levels in soleus muscles. Carnosine concentrations in soleus muscles and gastrocnemius muscles were significantly higher in the HC group compared to all other groups (p<0.05). Serum triglyceride and LDL-cholesterol concentrations in all of the carnosine-supplemented groups were significantly lower than those of the control group (p<0.05), while HDL-cholesterol levels were significantly higher than those of the control group (p<0.05). Aspartate aminotransferase levels in rats supplemented with carnosine were significantly higher than those of the control group. In conclusion, diets supplemented with high levels of carnosine can increase carnosine concentrations in skeletal muscles, which might contribute to increased exercise capacity. Furthermore, these findings suggest that high levels of dietary carnosine improve the lipid profile of rats by lowering blood LDL-cholesterol and increasing HDL-cholesterol levels.

• CELLMED
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• v.4 no.4
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• pp.27.1-27.5
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• 2014

Picrorhiza kurroa Royle ex Benth. (Scrophulariaceae) is a traditional Ayurvedic herb known as Kutki. It is used as a remedy for diabetes by tribes of North Eastern Himalayan region of India. Present study was conducted to explore the mechanism of antidiabetic activity of standardized aqueous extract of Picrorhiza kurroa (PkE). PkE (100 and 200 mg/kg/day) was orally administered to streptozotocin induced diabetic rats, for 14 consecutive days. Plasma insulin levels were measured and pancreas of rat was subjected to histopathological investigations. Glucose transporter type 4 (GLUT-4) protein content in the total membrane fractions of soleus muscle was estimated by Western blot analysis. Plasma insulin level was significantly increased along with concomitant increase in GLUT-4 content of total membrane fractions of soleus muscle of diabetic rats treated with extract. There was evidence of regeneration of ${\beta}$-cells of pancreatic islets of PkE treated group in histopathological examinations. PkE increased the insulin-mediated translocation of GLUT-4 from cytosol to plasma membrane or increased GLUT-4 expression, which in turn facilitated glucose uptake by skeletal muscles in diabetic rats.

• Journal of Ginseng Research
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.18-26
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• 2004

The effect of Panax ginseng administration in muscle inflammatory process induced after eccentric exercise, that causes myofibrillar disruption, was studied. Changes in lipid peroxidation, inflammation, glycogen levels in muscle and release of myocellular proteins to blood were measured. The analyses were performed immediately after eccentric exercise and over week since this period are necessary for the muscle damage-repair cycle. The ginseng extract (100 mg kg$^{-1}$ ) was orally administered to rats for three months, before the eccentric exercise performance. The results showed the protective role of ginseng against skeletal muscle damage. This effect could be associated with their membrane stabilising capacity since creatine kinase (CK) activity was significantly decreased 96 h post-exercise from 523$\pm$70 to 381$\pm$53 and 120 h post-exercise from 443$\pm$85 to 327$\pm$75 in treated animals. $\beta$-glucuronidase activity, as indicator of inflammation, showed a significant reduction of about 15-25% in soleus, vastus and triceps in these post-exercise times. The lipid peroxidation, measured by malondyaldehyde levels, was significantly decreased in the 24 h post-exercise period in soleus and vastus intermedius muscles and on the recovery period. Finally ginseng administration reduced significantly the decrease of the glycogen levels immediately after exercise and when the regenerative process took place (72-168 h post exercise). Collectively, the results have showed that ginseng did not inhibit the vital inflammatory response process associated with the muscle damage-repair cycle but presumably ameliorate the injury.