Abstract
Background: Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a chronic illness associated with resistance to or defective insulin secretion. This study investigates the effects of thermotherapy on cell viability, gene expression and inflammation in skeletal muscle cell lines. Methods: Healthy and T2D human skeletal muscle cell lines (HSMM and D-HSMM, respectively) were subjected to acute or chronic thermo-therapy (AT or CT, respectively). CT consisted of a 30 min exposure to 40 °C, three times a week for three weeks; AT was a one-time exposure. Results: A significant decrease in D-HSMM cell viability percentage followed AT; however, no significant change occurred in CT. HSMM yielded the highest elevations of genes following CT. In D-HSMM, both treatments yielded gene upregulation. Both treatments significantly down-regulated IL-1β, IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α in HSMM. AT significantly decreased IL-1β, IL-6 and upregulated IL-10 and TNF-α levels in D-HSMM, while CT yielded a reduction in IL-4, TNF-α and an upregulation of IL-6 and IL-10. Conclusions: An increase in gene expression indicates actin activity and cellular responses, suggesting an increase in transcriptional regulation. The upregulation of IL-6 and IL-10 in D-HSMM negatively correlated with a decrease in TNF-α and IL-1β, indicating improved adverse inflammatory effects associated with the disease.
Highlights
The chronic thermotherapy exposure temperature of 40 ◦ C yielded a slight increase in cell viability, with a significant 1.16-fold increase in
The heat exposure induced changes favoring an anti-inflammatory pathway with a decrease in the expression of IL-1β and Tumor necrosis factor α (TNF-α)
IL-10 expression in D-human skeletal muscle myoblasts (HSMM) was increased following both the acute and chronic treatments, which highlights its role as an anti-inflammatory cytokine
Summary
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease affecting millions of people globally. It is classified as a heterogeneous disease where blood glucose levels are elevated above normal, a condition commonly known as hyperglycemia [1,2]. The disease is classified into four general groups, type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes (T2D) and other specific types of diabetes due to other causes that include neonatal diabetes and maturity-onset diabetes of the young, exocrine pancreas diabetes (cystic fibrosis and pancreatitis) and drug- or chemical-induced diabetes, as in glucocorticoid use in the treatment of HIV/AIDS or after organ transplantation, and gestational diabetes. Previous studies have shown low muscle mass and strength are associated with an increased risk of T2D [4]
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