Document Type

Article

Publication Date

4-1-2025

Comments

This article is the author's final published version in Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, Volume 16, Issue 2, April 2025, Article number e13798.

The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.1002/jcsm.13798.

Copyright © 2025 The Authors

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may influence musculoskeletal health. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of three different NSAIDS: naproxen sodium, ibuprofen, flurbiprofen or a placebo on musculoskeletal adaptations in rodents with or without 6 weeks of aerobic exercise.

METHODS: Nine-week-old male Wistar rats (n = 80) were randomized to either exercise (EX) or no-exercise control (CON) conditions and treated with naproxen, ibuprofen (IBU), flurbiprofen (FLU) or placebo (PLA). For exercise, rats ran 5 days per week for 6 weeks at a 5% incline on a motorized treadmill for 30 min. Three-point bending (3 PB) and microcomputed tomography (microCT) were measured in the femur. Anabolic muscle signalling pathways were measured in the quadriceps. Muscle fibre cross-sectional area (CSA) and fibre type were measured in the soleus. Data were analysed using a two-way ANOVA for treatment by condition and is visualized as mean ± standard deviation.

RESULTS: For 3 PB, there was an exercise effect for ultimate bending energy, postyield energy, toughness, postyield toughness, postyield displacement, ultimate strain and postyield strain (all, p <  0.05). There was a treatment by condition effect for Young's Modulus, where placebo exercise was less than placebo control (PLA EX: 3256.44 ± 463.41 MPa, PLA CON: 4849.94 ± 836.70 MPa, p <  0.05). For microCT, there was a treatment by condition effect for trabecular thickness (p = 0.047) and the IBU EX group increased thickness compared with the IBU CON group (IBU EX: 0.133 ± 0.011 mm, IBU CON: 0.121 ± 0.007 mm, p = 0.027). In the quadriceps, for myosin heavy chain abundance, there was a treatment by condition effect (p = 0.046) and ibuprofen exercise was lower than ibuprofen control (IBU EX: 0.636 ± 0.513 AU, IBU CON: 1.81 ± 1.012 AU, p = 0.016). There was no treatment by condition effect for phosphorylation of the AKT, AMPK or ERK pathways (all, p > 0.05). In the soleus, there was no treatment by condition effect for fibre type percentage or muscle CSA (p > 0.05).

CONCLUSIONS: NSAIDs did not have a strong negative or positive effect on musculoskeletal adaptations to 6 weeks of treadmill running in young healthy male rodents.

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Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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PubMed ID

40211462

Language

English

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