Abstract
Musculoskeletal system plays a key role in organism’s well-functioning and is responsible for a large variety of functions such as posture, locomotion, balance, and activities of daily life. The quality of the skeletal muscle is therefore capital to maintain quality of life and, in the long term, survival. Hypoactivity and aging are two situations that cause skeletal muscle deconditioning, therefore sharing common characteristics: loss of muscle strength, muscular atrophy and MyHC redistribution, as well as IMAT accumulation. To date, there is plenty of evidence supporting a causative link between oxidative stress phenomenon and muscle deconditioning.The general aim of this PhD thesis was to evaluate the impact of the modulation of the antioxidant defenses on the prevention of muscle deconditioning. It has been studied from two perspectives, the first one in the context of aging and the second in the context of hypoactivity.The first study aimed to evaluate frailty in old female animals, using WT and G6PD-overexpressing mice. We evaluated muscle quality parameters and oxidative stress markers. Finally, we performed a transcriptomic analysis of muscle samples and highlighted differentially expressed genes in both groups of mice.The second study was conducted to evaluate the effects of a cocktail enriched in antioxidant/anti-inflammatory molecules in a 2-month hypoactivity experiment (Bedrest model). Our results clearly demonstrate the ineffectiveness of this type of supplementation in the prevention of muscle mass and strength loss. Moreover, data regarding muscle molecular mechanisms highlight an alteration of recovery processes in the supplemented subjects.Finally, the conclusions of our two studies gave clues on the suitable antioxidant modulation strategy for the prevention of skeletal muscle deconditioning. It seems preferable to focus on the stimulation of endogenous defense system whether than towards exogenous supply of nutritional antioxidants. Nevertheless, the complexity of redox signaling requires better understanding to optimize countermeasures in muscle wasting situations.