Figure 1.

Musculoskeletal loading reduces weight gain and attenuates muscle atrophy in db/db mice. (a) Representative images of WT gross morphology after 3 months of SED conditions, WBV, or TE. (b) Both interventions reduced weight gain in WT mice (left), and analysis of body weight at euthanasia relative to WT SED mice revealed statistically significant reductions after exercise (right). (c) Representative images of db/db morphology after 3 months of each intervention. (d) Exercise and WBV reduced weight gain over the final month of the experiment in db/db mice (left), and TE significantly reduced body weight relative to db/db SED mice at euthanasia (right). (e) Exercise and WBV prevent muscle fiber atrophy in the EDL of db/db mice. (f) Micrographs show representative images of H&E staining in EDL samples from the indicated groups. Scale bar = 100 µm. (g) There was no significant effect of TE or WBV on muscle fiber diameter in the soleus. For graphs, bars and symbols represent the average of (n = 6 to 8) mice in the indicated conditions, and hashtags denote the effect of genotype following 2 × 3 ANOVA with statistical significance at P < 0.05. Asterisks indicate significant differences relative to matched-genotype SED mice following repeated-measures ANOVA (b, d) or one-way ANOVA with Bonferroni-corrected post hoc comparisons (e, g).