Abstract
Background: Doxorubicin (DOX) is associated with profound skeletal muscle dysfunction. Resistance training (RT) and creatine (Cr) monohydrate have been independently shown to protect against DOX-induced muscle dysfunction. However, no investigation has examined their combined effects on DOX-induced muscle dysfunction.
Methods: Male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned to a RT or sedentary group. After 6 wk of training, the soleus (SOL) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) were excised and placed in a tissue bath containing Krebs buffer (K) or a K containing Cr (25 mM) for 30 min. The buffers were refreshed with new K or K containing DOX (24 μM) and incubated for 30 min. Muscles were then subjected to maximal twitch and fatigue testing.
Results: DOX-induced fatigue occurred at 40 s in the SOL and EDL. RT delayed DOX-induced fatigue by 20 s in the SOL and 10 s in the EDL. Cr treatment delayed the onset of DOX-induced fatigue by 10 s in the EDL. The combination of RT and Cr delayed DOX-induced fatigue by 50 s in the SOL and 20 s in the EDL.
Conclusion: This study showed that a combined treatment with RT and Cr minimized DOX-induced fatigue in the SOL and EDL.
Disclosure statement
The authors have no conflicts of interest to report.
Funding
The authors received no specific funding for this work.
Author contributions
All authors participated in the design, interpretation of the studies and analysis of the data, and review of the manuscript; E.C.B., R.L.B., and D.S.H. conducted the experiments and E.C.B. wrote the manuscript.