Histological evidences of reparative and regenerative effects of beta-adrenoceptor agonists, clenbuterol and isoproterenol, in denervated rat skeletal muscle.

The aim of this study was to determine the contribution of β-adrenoceptor activation in the reconstruction of the structural and functional organization of denervated skeletal muscle. β-agonists, clenbuterol (1.2 mg/kg body weight) and isoproterenol (2 mg/kg body weight), administration (daily oral administration; maximum 7 days) to normal innervated rats as well as denervated animals caused muscle hypertrophy. An increase in mean fiber diameter confirmed this stimulated growth both in normal innervated and denervated rat gastrocnemius muscle. Examination of muscle nuclei from treated but normal innervated rat gastrocnemius exhibited features like large size, active nucleoplasm and an increase in their number per fiber cross section and per mm mean fiber length indicating towards an elevated biosynthetic activity in tissue in the presence of β adrenoceptor agonists. Administration of drugs to normal innervated animals resulted in an emergence of central muscle nuclei. The hyperactive and enlarged muscle nuclei ultimately organized themselves into unusually elongated nuclear streaks. β agonist treatment to denervated rats resulted in amelioration of atrophic state of tissue characterized by hypertrophy of muscle fibers thus lending to a restoration of structural organization of tissue. Bizarre shapes of nuclei in denervated muscle tend to recover to that characteristic to normal innervated muscle in presence of clenbuterol and isoproterenol hydrochloride. All observations were confirmed by administering butoxamine, a β-adrenoceptor antagonist along with β-agonists. The results suggests that both clenbuterol and isoproterenol hydrochloride are capable of mimicking normal innervation functions in skeletal muscle and thus play important role in the structural and functional reorganization of tissue. Amelioration of denervation atrophy in rat gastrocnemius in the presence of β-agonists supports this.