Trunk muscle activity during pressure feedback monitoring among individuals with and without chronic low Back pain.

BACKGROUND: Pressure biofeedback unit (PBU) is a widely used non-invasive device to assist core muscle training by providing pressure feedback. The aim this study was to compare the muscle activities of transverse abdominis (TA) and multifidus (MF) at different target pressures (50, 60 and 70 mmHg) of PBU between individuals with and without cLBP. METHODS: Twenty-two patients with chronic LBP (cLBP) and 24 age matched healthy individuals were recruited. Electromyography (EMG) signals were recorded from the TA and MF muscles while the TA and MF were contracted to achieve PBU pressure value of 50, 60 and 70 mmHg in random order. The average EMG amplitude (AEMG) of 3 replicate trials was used in the analysis after normalization to %MVIC. %MVIC is defined as the mean of the three AEMG divided by the AEMG of MVIC. Two-way ANOVA was performed to assess the effects of groups (healthy and cLBP) and the three different target pressures of PBU. Independent sample t-test was conducted to compare between the two groups. Spearman's correlation analysis was performed in the cLBP group to determine potential correlations between EMG activity, NPRS and ODI. RESULTS: The %MVIC of the TA and MF in the cLBP group were higher than the control group at each pressure value (P<0.05). During maximal voluntary isometric contraction (MVIC) of TA and MF, compared with healthy groups, cLBP subjects showed a decrease (TA mean = 47.61 µV; MF mean = 42.40 µV) in EMG amplitudes (P ≤ 0.001). The MVIC of MF was negatively correlated with Numerical Pain Rating Scale (r = - 0.48, P = 0.024) and Oswestry Disability Index (r = - 0.59, P = 0.004). CONCLUSIONS: We measured the trunk muscles activities at different PBU pressure values, which allows the individual to estimate trunk muscle contraction via PBU. Clinicians may be able to confer the data obtained through EMG recordings to adjust the exercise intensity of PBU training accordingly.

TIMP3: a physiological regulator of adult myogenesis.

Myogenic differentiation in adult muscle is normally suppressed and can be activated by myogenic cues in a subset of activated satellite cells. The switch mechanism that turns myogenesis on and off is not defined. In the present study, we demonstrate that tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase 3 (TIMP3), the endogenous inhibitor of TNFalpha-converting enzyme (TACE), acts as an on-off switch for myogenic differentiation by regulating autocrine TNFalpha release. We observed that constitutively expressed TIMP3 is transiently downregulated in the satellite cells of regenerating mouse hindlimb muscles and differentiating C2C12 myoblasts. In C2C12 myoblasts, perturbing TIMP3 downregulation by overexpressing TIMP3 blocks TNFalpha release, p38 MAPK activation, myogenic gene expression and myotube formation. TNFalpha supplementation at a physiological concentration rescues myoblast differentiation. Similarly, in the regenerating soleus, overexpression of TIMP3 impairs release of TNFalpha and myogenic gene expression, and delays the formation of new fibers. In addition, downregulation of TIMP3 is mediated by the myogenesis-promoting microRNA miR-206. Thus, TIMP3 is a physiological regulator of myogenic differentiation.