Diltiazem improves contractile properties of skeletal muscle in dysferlin-deficient BLAJ mice, but does not reduce contraction-induced muscle damage
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2018
Department/School
Health Sciences
Publication Title
Physiological Reports
Abstract
B6.A-Dysf prmd /GeneJ (BLAJ) mice model human limb-girdle muscular dystrophy 2B (LGMD2B), which is linked to mutations in the dysferlin (DYSF) gene. We tested the hypothesis that, the calcium ion (Ca 2+ ) channel blocker diltiazem (DTZ), reduces contraction-induced skeletal muscle damage, in BLAJ mice. We randomly assigned mice (N = 12; 3–4 month old males) to one of two groups – DTZ (N = 6) or vehicle (VEH, distilled water, N = 6). We conditioned mice with either DTZ or VEH for 1 week, after which, their tibialis anterior (TA) muscles were tested for contractile torque and susceptibility to injury from forced eccentric contractions. We continued dosing with DTZ or VEH for 3 days following eccentric contractions, and then studied torque recovery and muscle damage. We analyzed contractile torque before eccentric contractions, immediately after eccentric contractions, and at 3 days after eccentric contractions; and counted damaged fibers in the injured and uninjured TA muscles. We found that DTZ improved contractile torque before and immediately after forced eccentric contractions, but did not reduce delayed-onset muscle damage that was observed at 3 days after eccentric contractions.
Link to Published Version
Recommended Citation
Begam, M., Collier, A. F., Mueller, A. L., Roche, R., Galen, S. S., & Roche, J. A. (2018). Diltiazem improves contractile properties of skeletal muscle in dysferlin-deficient BLAJ mice, but does not reduce contraction-induced muscle damage. Physiological Reports, 6(11), e13727. https://doi.org/10.14814/phy2.13727