Chronic intermittent hypobaric hypoxia attenuates skeletal muscle ischemia-reperfusion injury in mice

The aim of this study was to investigate the protective effect of chronic intermittent hypobaric hypoxia (CIHH) against skeletal muscle ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury and to determine the underlying mechanism.

C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into 3 groups: skeletal muscle IR injury group (IR), CIHH pretreatment following IR group (IR + CIHH), and sham operation group (Sham). The skeletal muscle IR injury model was induced by the unilateral application of a tourniquet on a hind limb for 3 h and then releasing it for 24 h. CIHH pretreatment simulating a 5000-m altitude was applied 6 h per day for 28 days. The functional and morphological performance of IR-injured gastrocnemius muscle was evaluated using contraction force, H&E staining, and transmission electron microscopy. IR injury-induced CD68⁺ macrophage infiltration was assessed by immunofluorescence. TNFα levels in serum and muscle were measured by ELISA and western blotting, respectively. Apoptosis was examined by TUNEL staining and Cleaved Caspase-3 protein expression.

Acute IR injury resulted in reduced contraction tension, morphological destruction, macrophage infiltration, increased TNFα levels, and apoptosis in gastrocnemius muscle. CIHH pretreatment significantly ameliorated contraction function and morphological performance in IR-injured skeletal muscle. In addition, CIHH pretreatment resulted in marked decreases in CD68⁺ macrophage infiltration, TNFα levels, and apoptosis.

These data demonstrated that CIHH has a protective effect against acute IR injury in skeletal muscle via inhibition of inflammation and apoptosis.