Earticle

Physical exercise may help maintain muscle properties and functional improvement after peripheral nerve lesion, which may be enhanced by using biocompatible substances, such as sericin. The aim of this study was analyse the effect of sericin associated with swimming exercise on the phenotype, innervation, and functionality of the plantar muscle of Wistar rats. Forty randomly divided adult rats were used in five groups of eight animals: control, injury, sericin, exercise, exercise and sericin. The application of sericin was done on the spot, 100 μL, shortly after nerve compression. Three days after sciatic nerve compression, the swimming and swimming and sericin groups were submitted to physical swimming exercise for 21 days. Afterwards, the animals were euthanised and the plantar muscle was dissected and submitted to histochemical and histoenzymological techniques. The grip strength test did not show alterations in muscular functionality, and the control presented greater muscle mass in relation to the other groups, the same did not occur for muscle length. Polymorphic neuromuscular junctions were detected in the groups, although without significant morphometric alterations of the area, major and minor diameters. The percentage of type I fibres was lower in the lesion group and there was no difference in fibres IIa and IIb between groups. The area of fibres I, IIa and IIb remained constant between groups. Sericin biopolymer combined with swimming exercise did not affect plantar muscle function, submitted to experimental axonotmosis, whose contractile properties were altered by nerve injury.

The influence of refeeding with either vitamin, mineral, fibre of water on protein synthesis and mRNA content in the liver and breast muscle of fasted chicks was investigated. At 15 d of age, chicks were fasted for 2 d and then refed either vitamin, mineral, fibre or water. The fractional synthesis rate (FSR) of protein was measured after 30 min of refeeding by using a large dose injection of L - 2, $6[^3H]$ phenylalanine. In the liver, FSR was reduced by fasting and tended to increase but not significantly by refeeding with vitamin or mineral. FSR was not affected by refeeding with fibre or water. There was no influence of fasting and refeeding on ribosomal capacity (the RNA : protein ratio) and ribosomal efficiency (total protein synthesised per total RNA). The absolute synthesis rate (ASR) of liver protein and hepatic mRNA content were reduced by fasting and unchanged by refeeding. In the muscle, FSR, ASR and mRNA content were significantly decreased by fasting and not recovered by refeeding with either vitamin, mineral, fibre or water. It concluded that vitamin, mineral, fibre and water have little capacity to stimulate liver and muscle protein synthesis reduced by fasting.