Recovery of the soleus muscle after short- and long-term disuse induced by hindlimb unloading: effects on the electrical properties and myosin heavy chain profile

The hindlimb unloading (HU) rat is a model of muscle disuse characterized by atrophy and slow-to-fast phenotype transition of the postural muscles, such as the soleus. We previously found that the resting sarcolemmal chloride conductance (gCl) that is typically lower in slow-twitch myofibers than in fast ones increased in soleus fibers following 1 to 3 weeks of HU in accord with the slow-to-fast transition of myosin heavy chain (MHC) isoforms. Nevertheless, the gCl already raised after a 3-day HU, whereas no change in MHC expression was detected. The present work evaluates the ability of soleus muscle to recover on return to normal load after a short (3 days) or long (2 weeks) disuse period. The changes observed after a 2-week HU were slowly reversible, since 3-4 weeks of reloading were needed to completely recover gCl, fiber diameter, MHC expression pattern, as well as the mechanical threshold Rheobase, an index of calcium homeostasis. After 3-day HU, the gCl increased homogeneously in most of the soleus muscle fibers and gCl recovery was rapidly completed after 4-day reloading. These results suggest different induction mechanisms for gCl augmentation after the short and long HU periods, as well as a possible role for gCl in the slow muscle adaptation to disuse.