Exercise May Ameliorate the Detrimental Side Effects of High Vitamin D Supplementation on Muscle Function in Mice

© 2020 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by American Society for Bone and Mineral Research. Vitamin D is commonly prescribed to normalize deficiencies and to treat osteoporosis. However, the effect vitamin D supplements have on skeletal muscle health is equivocal. Although vitamin D is known to play a role in the various processes that maintain muscle integrity and function, recent studies utilizing high bolus dose vitamin D supplementation has demonstrated an increased risk of falls. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate the effects of high vitamin D supplementation on skeletal muscle function with and without exercise enrichment. Four-week old C57BL/10 mice (n = 48) were separated into either normal vitamin D (1500 IU/kg diet; unsupplemented) or high vitamin D (20,000 IU/kg diet; supplemented) treatment groups. Each dietary group was further separated into interventional subgroups where mice either remained sedentary or received exercise-enrichment for 8 weeks in the form of voluntary running. Following the intervention period, whole body in vivo and ex vivo contractile analysis were performed. High vitamin D supplementation decreased force production in the slow-twitch soleus muscles of sedentary mice (p <.01); however, exercise normalized this effect. Eight weeks of exercise did not improve fatigue resistance of the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) or soleus muscles in unsupplemented mice, likely due to low levels of activation in these muscles. In contrast, fatigability was improved in the EDL (p <.01) and even more so in the soleus (p <.001) in the supplemented exercise-enriched group. Our data highlights that increasing vitamin D levels above normal reduces postural muscle force as seen in the soleus. Thus, unnecessary vitamin D supplementation may contribute to the increased risk of falls observed in some studies. Interestingly, when vitamin D supplementation was combined with exercise, force production was effectively restored, and fatigue resistance improved, even in muscles lowly activated. Regular exercise may modulate the effects of vitamin D on skeletal muscle, and be recommended for individuals receiving vitamin D supplements. © 2020 The Authors. Journal of Bone and Mineral Research published by American Society for Bone and Mineral Research

The Effect of Yearly-Dose Vitamin D Supplementation on Muscle Function in Mice

Supplementation with vitamin D helps to alleviate weakness and fatigue seen with deficiency. However, large bolus doses appear to worsen the risk of falls. Whether this occurs as a direct result of muscle weakness is currently unknown. Thus, the aims of this study were to examine the muscle function following administration of high doses of vitamin D. Given the safety issues associated with bolus doses, experiments were conducted on C57BL6 mice. Mice at eight weeks of age with otherwise normal levels of vitamin D were supplemented for four weeks with a high dose (HIGH; n = 12) of vitamin D (20000 IU/kg food) designed to provide a year&#8217;s worth of vitamin D. These mice were compared to another group who received that same yearly dose in a single bolus i.p. injection (YEAR; n = 12). Mice provided with standard mouse chow, which contained 1000 IU/kg food, and injected with the vitamin D vehicle were used as controls (CON; n = 16). Force and fatigue properties of hind limb fast- and slow-twitch muscles were measured. CON animals ingested vitamin D consistent with typical human supplementation. HIGH animals consumed significantly more food than the CON animals, such that they ingested more than a year&#8217;s worth of vitamin D in four weeks. Despite this, there were few differences in the muscle function compared with CON. YEAR animals demonstrated lower absolute and relative forces in both muscles compared to the HIGH animals, as well as lower force during fatigue and early recovery. Large bolus doses of vitamin D appear to have detrimental effects on the skeletal muscle function, likely being a contributor to increased risk of falls observed with similar doses in humans. Mice ingesting the same amount over four weeks did not demonstrate the same deleterious effects, suggesting this may be a safe way to provide high vitamin D if required

The Effect of Vitamin D Supplementation on Skeletal Muscle in the mdx Mouse Model of Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

Vitamin D (VitD) has shown to be beneficial in reversing muscle weakness and atrophy associated with VitD deficiency. Duchenne muscular dystrophy is characterized by worsening muscle weakness and muscle atrophy, with VitD deficiency commonly observed. This study aimed to investigate the effect of VitD supplementation on dystrophic skeletal muscle. Eight-week old female control (C57BL/10; n = 29) and dystrophic (C57BL/mdx; n = 23) mice were randomly supplemented with one of three VitD enriched diets (1000, 8000 &amp; 20,000 IU/kg chow). Following a four-week feeding period, the extensor digitorum longus (EDL) and soleus muscles contractile and fatigue properties were tested ex vivo, followed by histological analysis. As expected, mdx muscles displayed higher mass yet lower specific forces and a rightward shift in their force frequency relationship consistent with dystrophic pathology. There was a trend for mdx muscle mass to be larger following the 20,000 IU/kg diet, but this did not result in improved force production. Fiber area in the EDL was larger in mdx compared to controls, and there were higher amounts of damage in both muscles, with VitD supplementation having no effect. Four weeks of VitD supplementation did not appear to have any impact upon dystrophic skeletal muscle pathology at this age

Sodium nitrate co-supplementation does not exacerbate low dose metronomic doxorubicin-induced cachexia in healthy mice

The purpose of this study was to determine whether (1) sodium nitrate (SN) treatment progressed or alleviated doxorubicin (DOX)-induced cachexia and muscle wasting; and (2) if a more-clinically relevant low-dose metronomic (LDM) DOX treatment regimen compared to the high dosage bolus commonly used in animal research, was sufficient to induce cachexia in mice. Six-week old male Balb/C mice (n = 16) were treated with three intraperitoneal injections of either vehicle (0.9% NaCl; VEH) or DOX (4 mg/kg) over one week. To test the hypothesis that sodium nitrate treatment could protect against DOX-induced symptomology, a group of mice (n = 8) were treated with 1 mM NaNO3 in drinking water during DOX (4 mg/kg) treatment (DOX + SN). Body composition indices were assessed using echoMRI scanning, whilst physical and metabolic activity were assessed via indirect calorimetry, before and after the treatment regimen. Skeletal and cardiac muscles were excised to investigate histological and molecular parameters. LDM DOX treatment induced cachexia with significant impacts on both body and lean mass, and fatigue/malaise (i.e. it reduced voluntary wheel running and energy expenditure) that was associated with oxidative/nitrostative stress sufficient to induce the molecular cytotoxic stress regulator, nuclear factor erythroid-2-related factor 2 (NRF-2). SN co-treatment afforded no therapeutic potential, nor did it promote the wasting of lean tissue. Our data re-affirm a cardioprotective effect for SN against DOX-induced collagen deposition. In our mouse model, SN protected against LDM DOX-induced cardiac fibrosis but had no effect on cachexia at the conclusion of the regimen

2020 Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Trauma Surgery Technology in Giessen

The 3 rd event of the Giessen International Conference on Trauma Surgery Technology on October, the 17th 2020 was hosted on Zoom in accordance with the worldwide corona situation. Dr Mieczakowski, Dr Yu, and Wolfram drafted in 2018 from Jan’s apartment in Bremen the manuscript which was submitted to and approved for funding by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). At that time, we had no idea what substantial changes the conferencing concept would require. This is why we would like to thank again Michele. She first planned this year’s event after the 2019 date and then in the spring of 2020 had to replan for the new situation