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Gender specific changes in muscle mass with long‐term bedrest
Author(s) -
Trappe Todd,
Tesch Per,
Alkner Bjorn,
Burd Nick,
Trappe Scott
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
the faseb journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.709
H-Index - 277
eISSN - 1530-6860
pISSN - 0892-6638
DOI - 10.1096/fasebj.20.5.lb34-a
Subject(s) - medicine , spaceflight , thigh , triceps surae muscle , head down tilt , magnetic resonance imaging , leg muscle , bed rest , physical therapy , anatomy , surgery , physical medicine and rehabilitation , radiology , engineering , aerospace engineering
Because few women have been studied, it is not known if gender specific responses to real or simulated spaceflight exist. We monitored muscle volume changes of the thigh (quadriceps femoris) and calf (triceps surae) of women and men exposed to 60 and 90 days of ‐6° head down tilt (HDT) bedrest (BR), respectively. Magnetic resonance imaging measurements were made pre‐BR, HDT29, HDT57 (women), and HDT89 (men). The women lost relatively more ( P <0.05) thigh muscle volume than the men after one month (−17±1 vs. −10±1%). This amount of loss for the women at one month was similar ( P >0.05) to the amount the men had lost in three months (−18±1%). The women also had lost relatively more ( P <0.05) thigh muscle volume in two months (−21±1%) than the men had lost in three months. The women tended ( P =0.08) to lose relatively more calf muscle volume in one month than the men (−18±1 vs. −16±1%), while the women had lost as much ( P >0.05) calf muscle volume after two months (−29±1%) as the men had lost after three months (−29±2%). These results suggest that women are more susceptible to bedrest‐induced muscle loss than men and countermeasures specific to women will likely need to be developed. Sponsors: NASA, ESA, CNES