Skeletal muscle atrophy during short-term disuse: Implications for age-related sarcopenia

Situations such as the recovery from injury and illness can lead to enforced periods of muscle disuse or unloading. Such circumstances lead to rapid skeletal muscle atrophy, loss of functional strength and a multitude of related negative health consequences. The elderly population is particularly vulnerable to the acute challenges of muscle disuse atrophy. Any loss of skeletal muscle mass must be underpinned by a chronic imbalance between muscle protein synthesis and breakdown rates. It is recognized that muscle atrophy during prolonged (>10 days) disuse is brought about primarily by declines in post-absorptive and post-prandial muscle protein synthesis rates, without a clear contribution from changes in muscle protein breakdown. Few data are available on the impact of short-term disuse (<10 days) on muscle protein turnover in humans. However, indirect evidence indicates that considerable muscle atrophy occurs during this early phase, and is likely attributed to a rapid increase in muscle protein breakdown accompanied by the characteristic decline in muscle protein synthesis. Short-term disuse atrophy is of particular relevance in the development of sarcopenia, as it has been suggested that successive short periods of muscle disuse, due to sickness or injury, accumulate throughout an individual's lifespan and contributes considerably to the net muscle loss observed with aging. Research is warranted to elucidate the physiological and molecular basis for rapid muscle loss during short periods of disuse. Such mechanistic insight will allow the characterization of nutritional, exercise and/or pharmacological interventions to prevent or attenuate muscle loss during periods of disuse and therefore aid in the treatment of age-related sarcopenia.     

The effects of tamoxifen on the osteopenia induced by sciatic neurotomy in the rat: A histomorphometric study

Summary The effects of a 3-week treatment with the nonsteroidal “antiestrogen” tamoxifen were determined on cortical and trabecular bone mass of the tibiae of growing male rats that had undergone unilateral sciatic neurotomy (USN). USN resulted in decreases in cortical area (−11.3%), cross-sectional area (−8.4%), and periosteal bone formation rate (−32.6%) in cortical bone, indicating that the disuse osteopenia results in a decrease in bone formation in cortical bone. USN significantly reduced the amount of trabecular bone in our metaphyseal sampling site (−75%), markedly increasing the amount of bone surface lined by osteoclasts (+65%) without affecting the surface lined by osteoblasts. These results suggest that trabecular bone disuse osteopenia is due, at least in part, to increased bone resorption. Tamoxifen treatment significantly reduced the loss of trabecular bone, restoring resorbing surface length to the control (sham-operated) animal levels. Tamoxifen treatment of sham-operated animals increased trabecular bone area and surface by 35.7% (±10.5) and 41.8% (±7.8), respectively, and reduced resorbing surface by 21.5% (±11.6) compared with sham-operated placebo-treated rats. Tamoxifen had no significant effect on cortical bone parameters in the sham-operated group. The results indicate that tamoxifen is able to reduce the trabecular bone loss that results from USN, but has no effect on cortical bone disuse osteopenia, or on trabecular bone formation. Moreover, tamoxifen treatment of control (intact) animals inhibited the normal levels of bone resorption occurring in these rapidly growing animals.     

改良头颈肩热塑体膜固定下乳腺癌改良根治术后调强放疗中的摆位误差分析

目的 应用锥形束CT分析改良头颈肩热塑体膜和乳腺托架在乳腺癌改良根治术后调强放疗中的摆位精度差异。方法 回顾性分析天津医科大学肿瘤医院2015年8月至2018年12月68例接受调强放疗（IMRT）的乳腺癌改良根治术后患者资料。根据体位固定方式的不同,将患者分为改良头颈肩热塑体膜组（体膜组,42例）和乳腺托架组（托架组,26例）。在患者的第1、6、11、16、21次治疗摆位后行锥形束CT（CBCT）扫描,获得两组患者在左右（RL）、腹背（AP）、头脚（SI）方向的摆位误差,同时记录放疗摆位的时间。比较两组的摆位误差、分布比例、摆位时间,计算出各自的M_PTV外放值,并分析多种因素对体膜组患者摆位误差的影响。结果 42例体膜组扫描210次,26例托架组扫描130次。体膜组和托架组在RL、AP、SI方向的摆位误差分别为（2.12±2.01）和（2.38±1.92）mm、（3.29±2.46）和（3.88±2.76）mm、（3.47±2.29）和（4.11±3.15）mm,其中两组在AP和SI方向的摆位误差比较,差异均有统计学意义（t=-2.05、-2.16,P<0.05）;SI方向体膜组摆位误差≤ 3 mm的次数占总扫描次数的比例较高,优于托架组差异有统计学意义（χ²=4.97,P<0.05）;当AP和SI方向体膜组摆位误差>5 mm的次数占总扫描次数的比例较低,优于托架组差异有统计学意义（χ²=5.21、9.29,P<0.05）。体膜组的摆位时间较短,优于托架组差异有统计学意义（t=-2.16,P<0.05）。RL、AP、SI方向体膜组计算的M_PTV值均小于托架组。改良头颈肩热塑体膜体位固定方式对高龄（≥ 60岁）、体质量指数（BMI）≥ 24 kg/m²和对放疗过程相对不熟悉（治疗时间≤ 2周）的患者会造成AP和（或）SI方向的摆位误差偏大。其中,SI方向<60岁的患者摆位误差较小,优于高龄患者（≥ 60岁）差异有统计学意义（t=-2.43,P<0.05）;AP和SI方向BMI<24 kg/m²的患者摆位误差较小,优于BMI ≥ 24 kg/m²的患者,差异有统计学意义（t=-2.21、-2.04,P<0.05）;AP方向治疗时间>2周的患者摆位误差较小,优于对放疗过程相对不熟悉的患者（治疗时间≤ 2周）差异有统计学意义（t=2.23,P<0.05）。结论 在乳腺癌改良根治术后IMRT放疗时应用改良头颈肩热塑体膜可以降低腹背和头脚方向的摆位误差,同时缩短摆位时间。对于≥ 60岁、BMI ≥ 24 kg/m²和对放疗过程相对不熟悉（治疗时间≤ 2周）的患者,要关注腹背和头脚方向的摆位,以保证放疗的效果。