Resistance exercise reduces skeletal muscle cachexia and improves muscle function in rheumatoid arthritis

Abstract

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic, systemic, autoimmune, inflammatory disease associated with cachexia (reduced muscle and increased fat). Although strength-training exercise has been used in persons with RA, it is not clear if it is effective for reducing cachexia. A 46-year-old woman was studied to determine: (i) if resistance exercise could reverse cachexia by improving muscle mass, fiber cross-sectional area, and muscle function; and (2) if elevated apoptotic signaling was involved in cachexia with RA and could be reduced by resistance training. A needle biopsy was obtained from the vastus lateralis muscle of the RA subject before and after 16 weeks of resistance training. Knee extensor strength increased by 13.6 and fatigue decreased by 2.8 Muscle mass increased by 2.1. Average muscle fiber cross-sectional area increased by 49.7, and muscle nuclei increased slightly after strength training from 0.08 to 0.12 nuclei/m2. In addition, there was a slight decrease (1.6) in the number of apoptotic muscle nuclei after resistance training. This case study suggests that resistance training may be a good tool for increasing the number of nuclei per fiber area, decreasing apoptotic nuclei, and inducing fiber hypertrophy in persons with RA, thereby slowing or reversing rheumatoid cachexia. Copyright © 2011 Salaheddin Sharif et al.