Source
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Tohoku University School of Medicine, Sendai, Japan.
Abstract
BACKGROUND:
Interleukin (IL)-6 is locally produced in skeletal muscles and shows a remarkable increase in plasma after eccentric exercises.
OBJECTIVE:
To elucidate the cell types in the muscles responsible for IL-6 production after eccentric exercises.
STUDY DESIGN:
Controlled laboratory study.
METHODS:
An eccentric contraction model was made using electrical stimulation. The authors investigated the muscle damage and regeneration processes after eccentric exercises histologically, and the cell types expressing IL-6 and its subcellular compartimentalization with time immunohistochemically after eccentric exercises.
RESULTS:
Swollen myofibers were detected from 8 hours to 3 days after exercises. Disrupted myofibers were detected from 24 hours to 7 days, with a peak of 3 days. IL-6 was detected only in the cytoplasm of myofibers until 12 hours; thereafter, it was found in the inflammatory cells and proliferating satellite cells as well. The swollen myofibers were negatively stained for IL-6. The positive ratios of IL-6 in myofibers immediately increased after exercises, peaked in 12 hours, and then decreased.
CONCLUSIONS:
After eccentric exercises, IL-6 expression increased in myofibers preceding the disruption of myofibers. IL-6 might be closely related to muscle damage caused by strenuous exercises.