Chronic stress induces psychological and physiological changes that may have negative sequelae for health and well-being. In this study, the skeletal muscles of male C57BL/6 mice subjected to repetitive water-immersion restraint stress to model chronic stress were examined. In chronically stressed mice, serum corticosterone levels significantly increased, whereas thymus volume and bone mineral density decreased. Further, body weight, skeletal muscle mass, and grip strength were significantly decreased. Histochemical analysis of the soleus muscles revealed a significant decrease in the cross-sectional area of type 2b muscle fibers. Although type 2a fibers also tended to decrease, chronic stress had no impact on type 1 muscle fibers. Chronic stress increased the expression of REDD1, FoxO1, FoxO3, KLF15, Atrogin1, and FKBP5, but did not affect the expression of myostatin or myogenin. In contrast, chronic stress resulted in a decrease in p-S6 and p-4E-BP1 levels in the soleus muscle. Taken together, these results indicate that chronic stress promotes muscle atrophy by inhibiting mammalian targets of rapamycin complex 1 activity due to the upregulation of its inhibitor, REDD1.
Keywords: REDD1 inhibition; chronic stress; mTORC1 signaling; soleus muscle; type 2b muscle fiber.