The mechanisms of muscle wasting and decreased mobility have a major functional effect in rheumatoid arthritis, but they have been poorly studied. The objective of our study is to describe muscular involvement and the pathways in an experimental model of arthritis compared to the pathways in disuse atrophy. Female Wistar rats were separated into three groups: control (CO), collagen-induced arthritis (CIA), and immobilized (IM). Spontaneous locomotion and weight were evaluated weekly. The gastrocnemius muscle was evaluated by histology and immunoblotting to measure the expression of myostatin (a negative regulator), LC3 (autophagy), MuRF-1 (proteasome-mediated proteolysis), MyoD, and myogenin (satellite-cell activation). The significance level was set at P < 0.05, and histological analysis of joints confirmed the severity of the arthropathy. There was a significant difference in spontaneous locomotion in the CIA group. Animal body weight, gastrocnemius muscle weight, and relative muscle weight decreased 20%, 30%, and 20%, respectively, in the CIA rats. Inflammatory infiltration and swelling were present in the gastrocnemius muscles of the CIA rats. The mean cross-sectional area was reduced by 30% in the CIA group and by 60% in the IM group. The expressions of myostatin and LC3 between the groups were similar. There was increased expression of MuRF-1 in the IM (1.9-fold) and CIA (3.1-fold) groups and of myogenin in the muscles of the CIA animals (1.7-fold), while MyoD expression was decreased in the IM (20%) rats. This study demonstrated that the development of experimental arthritis is associated with decreased mobility, body weight, and muscle loss. Both IM and CIA animal models presented muscle atrophy, but while proteolysis and the regeneration pathways were activated in the CIA model, there was no activation of regeneration in the IM model. We can assume that muscle atrophy in experimental arthritis is associated with the disease itself and not simply with decreased mobility.
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