Pathophysiological mechanisms of alcoholic myopathy - Lessons from rodent models

Abstract

Skeletal muscle dysfunction is highly prevalent and is one of the earliest pathological tissue changes among people with at-risk alcohol use. Clinical studies to elucidate pathophysiological mechanisms of alcohol-mediated muscle disease are hampered due to ethical considerations, and confounded by nutritional, lifestyle, and comorbid conditions. Rodent models have been developed to study the impact of at-risk alcohol consumption and alcohol-mediated end organ injury, including skeletal muscle dysfunction. This review discusses results from well-established rodent models of alcohol administration and highlights key pathophysiological mechanisms underlying alcoholic myopathy identified in rodent models. Salient pathways include impaired regenerative capacity, altered anabolic/catabolic balance, impaired mitochondrial bioenergetic function, and skeletal muscle morphological and contractile changes.

Keywords

• alcohol
• muscle
• protein synthesis
• stem cell regeneration