Skeletal Muscle Damage and Repair: Classic Paradigms and Recent Developments

ABSTRACT

Objectives: To provide an overview of the classic paradigm of physiology of skeletal muscle damage, inflammation, and repair mechanisms and to highlight some newer research in these areas.

Findings: Skeletal muscle damage, inflammation, and repair, with some exceptions and regardless of the cause of damage, progress largely in the same way. This review highlights findings primarily from animal models augmented by selected human studies based mainly on the contraction-induced muscle damage model to outline the general paradigms of muscle damage and repair, as well as muscle soreness mechanisms. Newer research related to the regulation and implications of post-damage neutrophil infiltration, potential effects of specific drug-related interventions on muscle repair, and influence of sex steroid hormones and their loss in older adults on muscle repair potential are also highlighted.

Conclusions: Ongoing research continues to refine our understanding of muscle repair regulation and will assist in refining our abilities to positively intervene to optimize muscle repair in human and aging human populations.

KEYWORDS. :

• Muscle damage
• muscle repair
• inflammation
• satellite cells