Muscle inflammation can be acute or chronic. Those belonging to this last category, especially with advancing age, can give rise to important and annoying pathologies such as rheumatoid arthritis or sarcopenia, or muscle atrophy associated with aging.
But new research suggests that when exercised, muscles develop the ability to reduce inflammation.
regular has the ability to help counter various effects of aging. In particular, staying fit and active would reduce long-lasting or chronic inflammation, known to increase the risk of many diseases that affect older people.
However, exactly how active muscle fibers placate inflammation is still unclear. Most researchers until now have speculated that inflammation was reduced by molecular cross-talk between the fibers and other muscle tissue cells. , such as fat cells and immune cells.
during exercise and it is difficult to distinguish which physiological systems or reactions act specifically on muscles, ”explains Nenad Bursac, professor of biomedical engineering at Duke University and senior author of the research paper.
To focus solely on muscle cells, therefore, the team developed human muscles in the laboratory, devoid of other cell types. At the end of the "experiment on them, what emerged is that" the muscle cells are able to undertake anti-inflammatory actions on their own, "confirmed Nenad Bursac.
How the research took place
To simulate chronic inflammation, for 7 days the researchers contaminated laboratory-grown muscles with interferon-gamma, an immune signaling molecule that promotes inflammation and is linked to muscle wasting and dysfunction. Following this action, as expected, the muscle fibers shrank and became weaker.
Next, to simulate exercise, the scientists sent a small amount of electrical current through the muscle and over time found muscle growth and a reduction in the muscle wasting and weakening effects of interferon-gamma.
Scientists have therefore shown that interferon-gamma stimulates the inflammatory process, while exercise inhibits it.
"Not only have we confirmed that" interferon-gamma works primarily through a specific signaling pathway, but we have shown that "muscle cell exercise can directly counteract this pro-inflammatory signaling, regardless of the presence of other types of cells or tissues." says Zhaowei Chen, a researcher in Prof. Bursac's laboratory.
As a final test of their findings, the Duke researchers applied each drug to the lab-grown muscle in turn, finding that both block the effects of interferon-gamma and, in the process, prevent muscle wasting and weakness.
In addition to exploring the anti-inflammatory effects of exercise, therefore, the authors propose that scientists can use laboratory-grown muscle to test the ability of other drugs to prevent chronic inflammation. 'These results show how valuable human muscles grown in the laboratory can be for discovering new disease mechanisms and potential treatments. There is a good chance that constant exercise fights chronic inflammation without overloading the cells and perhaps it is thanks to muscles created in the laboratory that we can be sure of this and thus think of officially inserting "sporting activity in the treatment path".
If done every day and possibly in the morning, it can relieve the symptoms of rheumatoid arthritis by improving flexibility, reducing stiffness and increasing range of motion.
The ideal stretching routine is different for each person and depends on which joints are affected and what symptoms occur. However, stretches often involve slow, gentle movement of the knee, hand, and elbow joints and can be very helpful.
Training with resistance band
Using an elastic resistance band to tone your muscles is one of the best ways to build solid muscle mass over time. The exercises that can be done with this tool are different and can involve every part of the body. To identify the best ones according to the situation, the ideal is to rely on the suggestions of a physiotherapist.
