IκBα degradation is necessary for skeletal muscle atrophy associated with contractile claudication

The arterial blockage in patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) restricts oxygen delivery to skeletal muscles distal to the blockage. In advanced-stage PAD patients, this creates a chronic ischemic condition in the affected muscles. However, in the majority of PAD patients, the muscles distal to the blockage only become ischemic during physical activity when the oxygen demands of these muscles are increased. Therefore, the skeletal muscle of most PAD patients undergoes repeated cycles of low-grade ischemia-reperfusion each time the patient is active and then rests. This has been speculated to contribute to the biochemical and morphological myopathies observed in PAD patients. The current study aimed to determine, using a rodent model, whether repeated hind limb muscle contractions during blood flow restriction to the hind limb muscles increases NF-κB activity. We, subsequently, determined whether an increase in NF-κB activity during this condition is required for the increased transcription of specific atrophy-related genes and muscle fiber atrophy. We found that hind limb muscle contractions during blood flow restriction to the limb increased NF-κB activity, the transcription of specific atrophy-related genes, and caused a 35% decrease in muscle fiber cross-sectional area. We further found that inhibition of NF-κB activity, via gene transfer of a dominant-negative inhibitor of κBα (d.n. IκBα), prevented the increase in atrophy gene expression and muscle fiber atrophy. These findings demonstrate that when blood flow to skeletal muscle is restricted, repeated cycles of muscle contraction can cause muscle fiber atrophy that requires NF-κB-IκBα signaling.