Dosage-Adjusted Resistance Training in Mice with a Reduced Risk of Muscle Damage

J Vis Exp. 2022 Aug 31:(186):10.3791/64000. doi: 10.3791/64000.

Abstract

Progressive resistance training (PRT), which involves performing muscle contractions against progressively greater external loads, can increase muscle mass and strength in healthy individuals and in patient populations. There is a need for precision rehabilitation tools to test the safety and effectiveness of PRT to maintain and/or restore muscle mass and strength in preclinical studies on small and large animal models. The PRT methodology and device described in this article can be used to perform dosage-adjusted resistance training (DART). The DART device can be used as a standalone dynamometer to objectively assess the concentric contractile torque generated by the ankle dorsiflexors in mice or can be added to a pre-existing isokinetic dynamometry system. The DART device can be fabricated with a standard 3D printer based on the instructions and open-source 3D print files provided in this work. The article also describes the workflow for a study to compare contraction-induced muscle damage caused by a single bout of DART to muscle damage caused by a comparable bout of isometric contractions (ISOM) in a mouse model of limb-girdle muscular dystrophy type 2B/R2 (BLAJ mice). The data from eight BLAJ mice (four animals for each condition) suggest that less than 10% of the tibialis anterior (TA) muscle was damaged from a single bout of DART or ISOM, with DART being less damaging than ISOM.

Publication types

  • Video-Audio Media
  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Humans
  • Isometric Contraction / physiology
  • Mice
  • Muscle Contraction / physiology
  • Muscle, Skeletal / physiology
  • Resistance Training*
  • Torque