Chronic Inflammatory Exposure Changes the Phenotype of Human Skeletal Muscle Cells

Abstract

Study ObjectivesOsteopathic Manipulative Therapy (OMT) is well documented in treating myofascial pain. OMT, when used appropriately, can reduce acute and chronic pain and improve myofascial function. Chronic pain, skeletal muscle wasting, and skeletal muscle weakness have been associated with inflammatory diseases. Skeletal muscle is a target for OMT and studies have shown that skeletal muscle weakness and wasting has been associated with inflammatory diseases. However, the molecular mechanisms driving these benefits with OMT are not well understood. Our objective is to look at how chronic inflammation, utilizing TNF‐alpha, changes the phenotype of human skeletal muscle cells (hSkM) and what affects stretching, which mimics OMT, improves these phenotypical changes. We hypothesize that chronic inflammation changes the phenotype of the myofascial tissue that can be reversed by OMT.MethodsHuman skeletal muscle cells were grown in skeletal muscle cell growth medium in a 150 mm × 25 mm dish. After reaching confluence, the hSkM cells were split and grown in five T‐75 flasks. Two of these flasks served as controls. The remaining three flasks were exposed to TNF‐alpha in varying concentrations; 0.1, 0.05, and 0.025 microgram/microliters of TNF‐alpha in distilled H2O. hSkM cells were phenotyped by looking at cell shape, cell count, and organization of fluorescent biomarkers.ResultshSkM cells changed shape in response to chronic exposure to pro‐inflammatory factor TNF‐alpha in a dose dependent manner. Compared to control, hSkM cells chronically exposed to TNF‐alpha had cell‐cell contact and organizational changes. TNF‐alpha exposure also decreased cell count in a dose dependent manner.ConclusionsChronic exposure to pro‐inflammatory factor TNF‐alpha changes the hSkM cell phenotype. We predict that cell stretching will reverse these phenotypical changes.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.