Intramuscular injection of the β-agonist formoterol enhances early functional repair after myotoxic injury in rat skeletal muscles

Abstract

Systemic administration of β‐adrenoceptor agonists (β‐agonists) to rats exerts an anabolic action on skeletal muscle and hastens recovery of function after muscle injury. However, their clinical application has so far been limited by side effects, such as cardiac hypertrophy. We tested the hypothesis that intramuscular (i.m.) injection of the β‐agonist, formoterol, could improve functional muscle repair after bupivacaine‐induced injury in rats without causing deleterious effects on the heart. Adult male rats were deeply anesthetized and the right EDL muscle was surgically exposed and injected with bupivacaine to destroy all muscle fibers. The left EDL muscle served as the uninjured control. ..